Friday, May 27, 2011

Student Finds Universe's 'Missing Mass'

22-year-old Australian Aerospace Engineering/Science student has discovered the so-called "missing mass" of the universe. Matter that astrophysicists say was present in the early history of the universe but can't be located now.

Undergraduate Amelia Fraser-McKelvie's, breakthrough indicates that the mystery material is located in vast structures called "filaments of galaxies".

Scientists have for decades considered these structures as possible repositories of the missing matter, but the technologies to detect it have only been available for a few years.

Complete Science Digest story here

4 comments:

John said...

... Hmmmm.... Does "Rosie" and Trump's Wig have anything to do with this???? Just curious and all...

Beam Me Up said...

Enquirering minds want to know!

Blizno said...

The story says that the filaments may contain about half of the mass of the local universe. I thought that about 90% of the mass of the universe was unaccounted for.

Is the "local universe" bound by different rules than the rest of the universe?

Even if this discover can't account for all of the missing mass, it's a step in the right direction.

Beam Me Up said...

Blizno
You caught that too...ok, then it isnt just me scratching my head. I am uncomfortable with the whole "missing mass" concept from a very simple frame of reference. 1 + 1 should equal 2 but when the math is done it comes up -1. Either the science or the math is wrong and I am uncomfortable with either prospect. Simplistic I know....but how do you account for the mass is there or it isnt, some of it is but most isn't...the math is right...maybe....It's rather maddening really. That's what I get for my public education chit :^/