# Dark Matter/Dark Energy **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-matter-dark-energy/577306 "2011-04-05T19:02:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-matter-dark-energy/577306/41 "2011-07-07T02:50:12Z")
[Moderator Note] **rwjefferson** bumped this thread to post a lot of nonsense. I have removed his posts, as well as those that responded directly to them. My apologies to those who had their posts removed along with his. I am also issuing him warnings for trolling and insults. [Moderator Instruction] **rwjefferson** , I am instructing you not to make any similar posts in GQ in the future. If you do, you will be warned. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-matter-dark-energy/577306/42 "2011-08-14T23:20:22Z")
> **[Dark matter may be an illusion caused by the quantum vacuum](https://phys.org/news/2011-08-dark-illusion-quantum-vacuum.html)** > > (PhysOrg.com) -- One of the biggest unsolved problems in astrophysics is that galaxies and galaxy clusters rotate faster than expected, given the amount of existing baryonic (normal) matter. The fast orbits require a larger central mass than the... ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-matter-dark-energy/577306/43 "2011-08-15T00:31:58Z")
Papers like that come out all the time (at least once a week), and every so often one of them happens to get noticed by the popular press. They’re mostly either crackpots, or elegant but completely unverifiable math. The odds are very heavily stacked against any given one of them actually being scientifically significant. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-matter-dark-energy/577306/44 "2011-08-15T02:14:58Z")
New theories, especially ones that postulate an unknown source of energy, or worse, a new type of matter, face a hard road due to the scientific method. Such wild theories need experimental proof before they become accepted as factual. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-matter-dark-energy/577306.md?page=2)