this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2024
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Futurology

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Gravity can exist without mass, dark matter could be myth: Study (interestingengineering.com)
submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Does this explain the bullet cluster? If it doesn't, it's kinda useless.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 months ago (4 children)

the current theory is “not by itself sufficient to discredit the dark matter hypothesis — it could be an interesting mathematical exercise at best, but it is the first proof that gravity can exist without mass,” he added.

(Quote by the author of the study himself)

It's a purely mathematical construct that could explain bending of light without mass.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago

Typical, scientist: "My paper does NOT say THIS". Press: "Scientist claims THIS!"

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Sure, I'm blaming the concerned journalist(s) here. It's rlly scummy to hype up an evidenceless hypothesis like this. Does injustice to both, the scientists and the public.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

To be fair dark matter is a purely mathematical construct to explain the presence of gravity without (visible) mass. Certainly dark matter has more credibility than this new idea but hypothetical mathematical constructs make up a good chunk of physics.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

But per the definition given involving negative mass, it should be "meassurable mass in the presence of exotic matter". Anywho...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

I mean, cool to prove a theory of massless gravity though, whatever their motivation.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

You say that about everything