The thing is a bit more complex.
We have a theory of the big bang,which could not be disproven yet.
This theory would expect that our current universe would slow down in expansion.
However our observations show that expansion is accelerating.
Introduce dark energy. It is supposed the mystical force which expands the universe.
(not sure if I get the following right) This force acts on every atom. But it is weak on its own, even the weak gravitational force is stronger. However over great distance the force is bigger than the gravitation.
Then there is dark mater. Our visible universe was made into a simulation where they use all the physics we know of to simulate the currently visible situation. However the simulation did not behave like what we see. It only works when they added a lot of matter. But matter that you can’t see? “dark matter”
Then they formed new theories that both dark matter and energy needed to exist or our universe wouldn’t look like it looks today.
Now I am no scientists but it is possible that we are completely wrong here.
meanmon13@lemmy.zip 5 months ago
I’m pretty sure that dark matter/energy is just this generation’s ether.
ShaunaTheDead@fedia.io 5 months ago
"dark" in scientific terms just means unexplained. We're very, very, very, and I cannot stress this enough... VERY sure that dark matter and dark energy exist, but they will remain "dark" until we discover what they are/what's causing the effects that we see. Aether was just unfounded non-sense that was based on practically nothing.
mindbleach@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
Aethyr was a reasonable insistence that light can’t be half as fucky as we now know it is.
Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 5 months ago
I’ll agree on Dark Matter, things like the Bullet Cluster need something more than modifyed gravity, but I’m not so sure about Dark Energy. As far as I know, Dark Energy is the difference in the energy we measure in space and the energy necessary to fuel the acceleration of expansion. This whole idea could change radically with a new understanding of space or the nature of the universe.
Dark Matter is a relatively known unknown; we know there must be some thing here, and are nearly certain it’s more than just a force. Dark Energy is an unknown unknown; something doesn’t match up, but we don’t know what.