# Dark Matter - Dark Energy Question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-matter-dark-energy-question/652849>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 13, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-matter-dark-energy-question/652849 "2013-03-13T20:17:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-matter-dark-energy-question/652849/21 "2013-03-15T00:52:14Z")

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I’m not sure I understand your question, but the “dark” in dark matter is relative. That is, the matter is dark because it cannot be seen against the cosmic background. However, all normal matter radiates until it is at or below the local ambient temperature. Weakly interacting matter does not interact electromagnetically and thus can’t be seen or even “felt” (i.e. is is not subject to the electrostatic repulsion that allows us to interact with normal matter) except by the influence of mass and the nuclear weak force. As far as I am aware, there are really no good models for a WIMP that play nicely with the current Standard Model, so this hypothesis really is speculative at this point.

Stranger

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**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-matter-dark-energy-question/652849/22 "2013-03-15T07:33:44Z")

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Thank you, **Pasta** , **Stranger**.

Off to the “all normal matter radiates thread”…

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**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-matter-dark-energy-question/652849/23 "2013-03-15T22:45:58Z")

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> [@Jake](#):
>
> Maybe it comes from another dimension and “Leaks” into ours. I dunno.

There’s Dark Flow - clusters of galaxies should be moving randomly in all directions but they seem to be flowing towards one particular region of space

> **[Dark flow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_flow)**
>
> In astrophysics, dark flow is a controversial hypothesis to explain certain non-random measurements of peculiar velocity of galaxy clusters. The actual measured velocity is the sum of the velocity predicted by Hubble's law plus a possible small velocity flowing in a common direction. Very large scale correlated flow, called bulk flow, is proposed in this model to be related to certain models of inflationary cosmology.
> According to standard cosmological models, the motion of galaxy clusters with ...

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