Ground breaking Dark Matter observation

[Blue Fire]

Is this as ground breaking as they claim?

Stanford Report, August 23, 2006
Scientists observe dark matter in isolation for the first time

BY KELEN TUTTLE

Scientists have observed dark matter, the elusive stuff that makes up a quarter of the universe, in isolation for the first time. By studying a galaxy cluster 3 billion light years away, Marusa Bradac of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), located at the Department of Energy's Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), and her colleagues made the landmark observations, which were announced today at a NASA teleconference.

"We had predicted the existence of dark matter for decades, but now we've seen it in action," said Bradac. "This is groundbreaking."

Sounds important, but I don't have the expertise to evaluate it:

Said KIPAC Director Roger Blandford: "These measurements are compelling. The direct demonstration that dark matter has the properties inferred on the basis of indirect arguments shows that we are on the right track in our quest to understand the structure of the universe."

What do you all think?

[Dragon Star]

Sure it's "ground breaking", but as the term infers, we still have the entire building to construct.

Thanks for posting, very neat subject.

[Blue Fire]

Originally Posted by Dragon Star

Sure it's "ground breaking", but as the term infers, we still have the entire building to construct.

Thanks for posting, very neat subject.

Yeah, very cool! But you know what? From the additional reading I've been doing, it's looking like we've got a significant breakthrough that will help us get the blueprint for that building more accurate. The more I read and the more I begin to understand, the more exciting it is. But then astronomy is Supposed to be exciting, right?

[Dragon Star]

Yep.

But you should note that this is direct evidence, and not proof, like some of the reports are claiming.

The media always gets in the way to make things exciting and often changes the words proof and evidence. Proof doesn't come until we physically interact with it.

[Blue Fire]

You've changed your avatar, Dragonstar! Cool!

[Dragon Star]

I change pretty often.