Whistling in the Dark Matter Debate

Who’s right?  Douglas Clowe’s team at U of Arizona claimed two weeks ago that they found dark matter in the Bullet Cluster – they even had a picture of it.  The Chandra X-Ray Center called it “direct proof” of dark matter.  Two days later, EurekAlert posted a story about a new proposal to bring back ether theory in modified form; the title of the article was, “Ether returns to oust dark matter” (see also the National Geographic story).  Now, EurekAlert posted a rebuttal to the U of A announcement: “Dark matter ‘proof’ called into doubt.” 

This is another controversy that must be shielded from students.  We must teach the consensus view.  Even if its truth is in dispute, dark matter is a fact – like the big bang (see 09/05/2006).