Sunday, May 26, 2013

Wimps Hold Galaxy To-gether

What could be more relevant to a blog entitled Centripetal Force than an article (The Guardian Weekly, 30.11.12, pp32-33) stating wimps are responsible for life on earth? Wimps mind you, not God, not Einstein nor Andromeda. These weakly interacting massive particles, yes you got it, are the subatomic particles which account for 85% of the mass of the universe. Without this mass, which creates gravitational fields, the gas clouds resulting from the Big Bang would not have coalesced into planets, stars and galaxies nor permitted life as we know it. Matter would have slipped away in unrecognizable shapes and forms and into the outer reaches of (an expanded?) space. The dark matter comprising wimps has not yet been measured, only induced. Detectable matter in the universe i.e. detectable by telescope and infrared sensors, has never been able to account for its calculated mass hence the conclusion that an invisible dark matter (which can travel through solids) permeates our environment. Its comforting to know lurking wimps do not cause a bump to the head on the way to the washroom in the wee small hours. Which begs the question, how did that bump ……?