NGC 4555 

More about Dark Matter and NGC 4555

Chandra's Find Of Lonely Halo Raises Questions About Dark Matter: "Huntsville AL (SPX) Oct 28, 2004
Dark matter continues to confound astronomers, as NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory demonstrated with the detection of an extensive envelope of dark matter around an isolated elliptical galaxy NGC 4555 (pictured). This discovery conflicts with optical data that suggest a dearth of dark matter around similar galaxies, and raises questions about how galaxies acquire and keep such dark matter halos."

The "War" in Iraq

I had some strange ideas about the war in Iraq today. Saddam believed the 1st President Bush did not take Baghdad because he was afraid Iraq would use their WMD, if backed into a corner. Saddam got rid of the WMD to get the sanctions lifted, but he wanted us to believe he still had some hidden away somewhere, so that we would always fear to take him out. Maybe the the 2nd President Bush actually had really good evidence that Iraq had no WMD, except some stores that could not be easily mobilized into action, so that there was no great danger, they could be used if we attacked.

So why did Bush attack Iraq, knowing there were no WMD? Think about a dog that has just been kicked, he will bite whatever is nearest to him. This is George Bush after 9-11, 2001. He wanted to attack somebody. Afganistan was too easy. Saddam chortled about 9-11 instead of sending his regrets. George II always regreted George I did not take out Saddam when he had the chance. George II saw the chance and knew the risk was low, so he went for it. Of course, he never expected the aftermath. He thought it would be easy. This is why he is a fool and should not be the President of the USA.

I cannot quite grasp why anyone calls what is happening in Iraq now "war". War should be defined as conflict between nations and Iraq, as a nation, has already been defeated. If we left there now, there would be no threat to us. If they choose the kill each other after we leave, it seems to me that this is their problem and not ours, as long as they are not threatening us. We are doing them a favor by staying, but I have not heard about anyone there thanking us. A lot of Americans are dying for nothing.

Scientists Find Prehistoric Dwarf Skeleton

This article: Scientists Find Prehistoric Dwarf Skeleton has some pretty astounding news that I am sure will be talked about for a long time. They have found a 3 foot tall adult species on an island in Indonesia that probably is in the Homo genus, most likely a descendant of Homo Erectus, one of our ancestors. They have dated the age as 18,000 years old. This puts another humanoid species overlapping Homo Sapiens, even later than the Neanderthal.

It has always seemed to me that our picture of human evolution must be very incomplete, being based on a few odd bones, found in a few odd places. There are probably a lot more surprises out there, as long as we keep looking.

Dark Matter

Galaxy NGC 4555

This article: A Dim Light Shines on Dark Matter is quite interesting. It discusses Galaxy NGC 4555 which "is surrounded by a gas cloud 400,000 light years wide and a searing 18 million degrees Fahrenheit in temperature." They believe the gas cloud would escape into space, except that there must be a halo of "dark matter" holding it in place.

I have been very skeptical about this idea of dark matter and dark energy for a long time. It seems they are simply contructs holding together a number of flawed theories, primarily the idea of "the big bang". This theory has become so dominant that no other theories are taken seriously by mainstream scientists, although if one looks closely it is clear there is no real evidence for it. The uniform cosmic background radiation and the red shifts of far away galaxies are the two observations most often cited to infer the big bang, but other simpler and more plausible explanations are available and largely ignored.

The big bang theory basically requires that something comes from nothing, similar to our ideas about God creating the universe. This idea seems to appeal to a lot of people. It does not appeal to me. I think it is an absurd notion. It defies common sense. Whatever is always has been and always will be. That is what common sense tells me. There is no creator, nor any beginning or end to the universe. I think the notion of creation, of beginnings and endings is simply a result of the human love of drama. A static universe does not make a good story, but it does make a hell of lot of sense. The one recognized genius of our time, Albert Einstein, believed in a static universe, at least early in his career, along with Issac Newton, so I don't think I am in too bad of company in professing this belief.

Somewhere in the middle of the 20th century, I really believe physicists and cosmologists got way off track, relying more on mathematics and abstract theories than on observations. They look for observations to support their theories, ignore those that don't, or patch up the theories to minimally fit some new observations, never considering that the entire paradigm they have been working under might be wrong. Of course, this is always the most difficult task- to change paradigms, but it seems to me it is way over due.

This brings me back to the idea of "dark matter". I don't think the fact that the gas around galaxy NGC 4555, has not disipated is real evidence for "dark matter". There could be any number of other explanations. The only reason "dark matter" is brought up here is because these scientists are so desparate to find some evidence of "dark matter" even though nobody has any idea of what "dark matter" might consist of, even though supposedly it makes up 90% of the universe.

If "dark matter" really makes up 90% of the universe, it is a virtual certainty, that we do not actually understand anything about matter at this point in history. I think our knowledge is very limited, but not so limited that we do not understand what 90% of the universe is made of. We understand a lot about matter and energy and "dark matter" is not included in the understanding. It is quite fair to assume, given this, that dark matter does not exist, so it is time to quit using this idea to explain our observations and look to find some real understanding of the phenomona we observe.

Some thoughts about UFO's

This article; Disclosure: UFO project launches public campaign , got me thinking about UFOs again. Over the years I have read some books about UFOs, looked over lots of stuff on the Internet, and wondered what was really going on. It seems in the last few years I have become more skeptical, feeling that UFO zealots are like a lot of religious people, seeing only what they want to see and believing only what they want to believe. This press conference which occurred in 2001, seems like it should have gotten a lot more attention than it did (I never heard anything about it), as a large group of prominent people came forward as witnesses to UFO sightings and government efforts to cover-up the phenomenon. The very fact that it garnered very little attention is suspicious. It certainly makes me wonder; What the heck really is going on? The easiest explanation is that the mainstream press simply has a list of "offbeat" subjects, it won't investigate because doing so would hurt their credibility. There are other explanations, but they all involve some kind of conspiracy which is something I really have a hard time buying, but right now I am thinking again whether any of these alternate explanations could make any sense.

More Hubble

Cat's Eye Nebula

This one is even more interesting to look at. It almost makes you believe in God!

Hubble Pictures

Dying Star

The Hubble telescope continues to take astounding photos. This is a recent one that is very unusal. It is hard to imagine what could be causing the strange pattern around this star. I am going to try and research it.

The Pioneer Anomaly

I have read about the anomalous deacceleration of the two Pioneer spacecraft in several different places. This article: The Problem with Gravity: New Mission Would Probe Strange Puzzle , provides a nice clear and concise discussion of the problem if anyone is interested.

Far Out Man!

This article is worth checking out: An Artist's Junkyard of Dreams .

I just found a good reason to go and visit Wisconsin. Who know maybe Dr Evermor will have the "Forevertron" working and be selling tickets to heaven by the time I get there.

Politics

The intention I had for this blog is to be non-political and just deal with issues of science and philosophy, but with the presidental election so near it is hard to avoid some political discourse, particularly when our president seems to be endowed with an unscientific mindset. If you have not found a good reason to vote against Bush yet, the following piece might convince you:

"In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn't like about Bush's former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House's displeasure, and then he told me something that at the time I didn't fully comprehend -- but which I now believe gets to the very heart of the Bush presidency.

The aide said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. 'That's not the way the world really works anymore,' he continued. 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'" --Ron Suskind, "Without a Doubt", New York Times Magazine

Is Everything Concious?

Living Systems in Evolution is an interesting article that I came across. At first it seems, it might just be another "New Age" sermon, but this article seems to contain more depth and makes some compelling arguments. It kind of builds on my earlier thoughts about the sybiotic relationship between humans (actually all higher lifeforms) and bacteria.

Strange Patterns

Melting Ice on Mars

I found this pattern of melting ice on the Martian pole strange. NASA explains the triangular spikes as being caused by wind erosion of the ice, but it seems wind erosion would not cause such sharp spikes. I would expect a more irregular pattern from wind erosion, plus we know that with Mars current thin atmosphere wind is not a very strong force. It seems more likely that the effect results from differing heat absorption near the surface, but what is causing this?

Who Makes Crop Circles?

Tanhill Crop Circle

I watched a program on crop circles last night on TV and was totally unconvinced that there is anything spooky or extraterrestrial about them. I would like to congratulate whoever is doing them on their excellent and beautiful designs. I wonder how one can join one of the clubs doing this? It is a bit funny, I think, that people imagine these things might be messages from beyond. I looked at a website showing some of the recent designs and they are so clearly human symbols- of course this is just an intuitive feeling on my part, but I would certainly be willing to bet on it, if anyone cares to make a wager.

An Interesting Photo

Closeup of a Leaf

I ran across this photo on the internet and for some reason it struck me as exceptionally beautiful. The individual droplets of water on the leaf seem to me more appealing than a string of pearls and the blue and green colors strike some deep emotional cord in me. It is interesting that often viewing the world in closeup inspires and impresses us more than seeing it with normal vision.

Natural or Artificial?

The "D & M Pryamid" on Mars

I have looked at many of the pictures that people are claiming might be artificial structures on Mars, but most are not really all that convincing. You have to want to see something there to believe it- like "The Face" which is located not far from the "D & M Pryamid" above. This "Pryamid" structure is the most anomalous to me. I find it very hard to imagine any natural processes that might have formed such a structure. I have not ruled out natural processes, but this structure certainly makes me take the artificial hypothesis seriously.

Bacteria are us?

I read this article recently: People Are Human-Bacteria Hybrid
and it got me thinking, if higher organisms are in such a tight symbiotic relationship with bacteria, what would happen if you grew something in a totally sterile environment (assuming this is possible)? Would the organism develop naturally or would it be some kind of monster?

One thing that seems clear is that our ideas about evolution are most likely too simplistic since we view it as a process affecting species in isolation. If we are really superorganisms in a symbiotic relationship to bacteria, the process of evolution must be more complex. Of course, all this leads to the Gaia hypothesis- that the Earth is a superorganism. In this superorganism the bacteria would act like the blood and nerves, tying everything together.