Dark matter vs modified gravity: which team are you on?

Physics World Stories Podcast

Coke or Pepsi? Messi or Ronaldo? Taylor Swift or…well, without wanting to set the Swifties against Physics World, let’s just say there’s often a tribal element to who we support or the choices we make.

In the world of cosmology, one heated divide is whether you’re for dark matter or modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND). Both theories attempt to explain the discrepancies between the predicted gravitational effects in the universe and some of the actual observed motions of stars and galaxies.

In the latest episode of Physics World Stories, Andrew Glester speaks to two cosmologists on opposing sides of this debate. Stacy McGaugh from Case Western Reserve University in the US is a former dark-matter researcher who switched sides overnight after MOND successfully predicted the rotation velocities of stars in galaxies.

The other guest, Indranil Banik from the University of St Andrews in the UK, took the opposite journey. While working on a six-year project to measure MOND in wide binaries, he found no deviation from standard Newtonian gravity at all – a hammer blow for MOND. Now a dark matter advocate, Banik cites observations in our own solar system as further evidence against MOND. Naturally, others disagree.

For more detailed insight into this debate, see the recent Physics World feature “Cosmic combat: delving into the battle between dark matter and modified gravity“.

2024-02-26 62 min Transcript

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Transcript

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- <silence>

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Physics

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- World.

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Hello and welcome to the
Physics World Stories Podcast.

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I'm Andrew Lester. And in this episode,

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we're gonna be exploring the debate raging

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between dark matter theorists

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and modified Newtonian
dynamics or mon theorists.

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The debate centers around
two competing theories,

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which are proposed to
explain the discrepancies

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between the observed gravitational
effects in the universe

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and the predictions made
by Newton's laws of gravity

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and general relativity.

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There are particular issues in
the way that galaxies behave.

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For example, the rotation curves

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of galaxies are faster
than you would expect.

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Dark matter theory suggests

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that the missing mass causing
these gravitational anomalies

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is due to this unseen form of matter.

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Dark matter doesn't emit absorb

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or reflect light, meaning it's invisible

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and detectable only through
its gravitational effects.

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Dark matter is thought
to make up around 27%

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of the universe's mass energy content.

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Mon, on the other hand, suggests

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that these discrepancies
can be explained without

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invoking unseen matter.

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Proponents of mon propose
modifications to Newton's laws

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of motion and gravity at
very low accelerations,

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which are typical of the
conditions found at the outer

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regions of galaxies.

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According to mon,

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the gravitational force behaves
differently at these low

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accelerations of gal rotation
curves without requiring

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the unseen dark matter in
the astronomical community.

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There is something

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of a tribal debate about it
on the physics world website.

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There's the first of three features

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by Keith Cooper exploring
this topic, cosmic combat,

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delving into the battle
between dark matter

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and modified gravity.

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Having read that article,
I wanted to find out more.

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So in this podcast, we'll
hear from two researchers,

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one who's moved from the mon
camp to the dark matter camp,

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and first Professor Stacey
Magor, who moved from dark matter

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to be a supporter of mon.

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- I am, uh,

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on the faculty at Case
Western Reserve University in

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Cleveland, Ohio and the United States.

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Uh, I work on galaxies and cosmology, and,

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and those things have sort of brought me

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to be interested in the
dark matter problem and,

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and the modified Newtonian
dynamics of Milgram.

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So in, um, both of those,
uh, astronomical objects,

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I mentioned galaxies and cosmology.

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You find that things don't add up.

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What you see is not what
you get in the sense

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that if you use the law of
gravity as taught to us by Newton

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and Einstein, um, applied

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to the visible matter, uh,

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things don't work out in galaxies.

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Stars and gas are orbiting
faster than one would predict.

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Um, the cosmology as a whole, um,

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doesn't really add up unless
you have both some extra mass

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and, and for that matter,
some extra, um, dark energy.

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Uh, and in particular in the
case of cosmology, we know,

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uh, from the early universe
that the abundances

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of the light elements, um,
the isotopes of hydrogen, uh,

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helium and lithium, uh, we
can understand that as, uh,

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the universe having
passed through, uh, a, a,

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a phase in which it was
one giant nuclear reactor.

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And we get the, uh, observed
elemental abundance, right,

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for a particular density of,
uh, bariums, uh, neutrons

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and protons, normal matter
that make up most of the mass.

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Uh, and that is maybe 5%
of the critical density,

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which is the over under, uh,
between expanding forever

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or relapsing.

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And yet, if we go out as astronomers

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and move, measure how things
move, and large scales

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and try to estimate the total
gravitating mass density, uh,

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then it's much bigger
than that, uh, density

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of normal matter.

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Uh, so we infer that there
is extra mass in both kinds

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of systems and that mass visible to us,

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and it have participated in this, uh,

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early big bang nucle synthesis.

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So we infer that it is some
kind of new particle outside

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of the standard model of particle physics.

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- So where does the modified
new dynamics come into

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- This?

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So, um, so that,

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that background about the
dark matter is sort of

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where I came to the problem from

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and where I, where I think
most, uh, scientists come to it.

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Um, but I was mostly interested in those

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astronomical objects.

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In particular, a class

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of things called low surface
brightness galaxies, which, uh,

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when I was a young
scientist, were, were new

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and not much was known about them.

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Uh, and I,

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and so a low surface
brightness galaxy is just a, a,

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if you think of a pretty spiral
galaxy, it's, it's just take

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that and stretch it out.

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It's, uh, has a much lower
average surface density of stars.

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Um, and so it's not as
pretty, but still a galaxy.

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And so, um, I had ideas
about how those, uh,

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would form in terms of dark
matter other people did too.

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And, um, none of those
ideas proved correct.

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And so in studying those things, I,

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I really got concerned
about whether we understood

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dark matter or if it could
even explain these galaxies.

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And, and that's a long story

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because one doesn't
consider, uh, something

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as radical as the, uh, a
modification of gravity, the,

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the so-called modified Newtonian dynamics

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until you're really convinced
that there's a problem

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with the dark matter picture.

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Um, and I became aware of that, or,

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or I become concerned for
the, the dark matter, um,

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before I became aware that,
that anybody had really even

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hypothesized that, um,

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at the time I was a postdoc in Cambridge

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and, um, uh, ma Mai Milgram,

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who was the person

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who hypothesized the modified
dynamics happened to come by.

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Uh, so it was a sort

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of a chance meeting in
middle Earth, as it were.

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And, and at a critical time when I was,

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um, already concerned about
whether the dark matter

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picture was viable.

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Um, and like I say, there's
a huge backstory just to

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that statement, but I'd
gotten worried about it.

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Um, nevertheless, I was
still convinced that

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that had to be the case.

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And so when I saw his talk
advertised on a poster, uh,

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something about modified gravity,
I was like, oh, who wants

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to hear that nonsense?

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It can't possibly be right.

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Um, and so I did go anyway.

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And, uh, he basically
not knowing who I was

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or what I did, derived in a
few lines on the board, um,

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a prediction for

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what low surface bytes
galaxies should do in

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his modified dynamics.

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Uh, that was exactly what I was observing

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and, uh, was part of what
had caused me deep concern

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for whether or not, uh,

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we could explain it with dark matter.

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And it was basically
a fine tuning problem.

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So, um,

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what the modified dynamics
hypothesize is that rather than

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there being a whole lot of
dark matter in the universe,

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that all the discrepancies
that we observe are

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because Newton and Einstein
didn't teach us everything.

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And so there's a change the force law.

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Um, and then his hypothesis
is change happens

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at a particular acceleration scale.

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Um, that's already kind of
hard to wrap our heads around

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because of course,
people, uh, early on when,

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when the dark matter
problem became obvious, um,

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people did think, well, maybe
it's a change in gravity.

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Uh, and the first thing our
brains think of is size, right?

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Cosmic scales are huge.
The galaxy is huge.

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The solar system is huge,

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but it's tiny compared
to those other things.

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So it's easy, uh, to imagine that, okay,

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Newton's inverse square law law and,

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and Einstein's additions

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to it work perfectly in the solar system.

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But maybe when you get to
the much, much bigger scales

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of galaxies, some
intermediate scale there, the,

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the force law changes,
um, that does not work.

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Um, you, you cannot make a,

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a length scale dependent
modification, uh, to the law

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of gravity and, and
fit it to all the data.

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Um, so people pretty much gave
up on that pretty quickly.

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But, but Milgram like, I
guess he suggested, well,

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there are other scales,
and the one that seems

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to work is this very
low acceleration scale.

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Um, and so he had hypothesized,
um, basically he wanted to

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cook up a theory that
made rotation curves flat,

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which was the, the hot topic at the time.

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Uh, but once you do that,
once you write down a,

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a modified force law,
it's, it's an equation and,

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and you're stuck with it, and
it makes lots of predictions

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and, um, acceleration
follows from surface density.

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So I had inadvertently done
the perfect, um, experiment

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to test this theory.

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<laugh>, I didn't know
about the theory when I,

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I was <laugh>, I was
interested in the low surface

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brightness galaxies, um, but
they were low surface density,

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and so that meant low acceleration.

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So they were strong
tests of, uh, his theory.

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And in fact, after, uh, I
hearing his talk, I went back

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and read his original papers,

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and I found a, a quote in there that said,

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low surface brightness
galaxies will provide

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particularly strong tests.

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And I was like, wow, I have now the data

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to falsify this stupid
theory, <laugh> <laugh>, that

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that was my first thought,

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because I was coming at it
from this dark matter picture

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where that had to be true.

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And even though I was already
worried about whether it,

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whether it could work

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or not, I still assumed that this,

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this strength theory had to be wrong.

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Um, now the concerns I had were
because of the fine tuning,

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and again, a long story short,
that fine tuning comes about

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because galaxies, uh, turn out

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to obey this modified force
law that Milgrim wrote down.

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And not just in terms of
having flat rotation curves,

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but in being able to map the details

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of the observed mass
distribution to the kinematics.

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That is how the entire shape
of the rotation curves was,

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how, how stars and gas moved in galaxies.

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Um, and so what I said

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before is that, you know, we
have the dark matter problem

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because what we see is not what you get.

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Um, but it is in this modified force law.

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Um, and what since then
is, you know, 20 years

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of hard work.

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But, um, we've been able to show that

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that's true empirically in
galaxies, um, without reference

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to, to milgram's particular theory,

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that if you measure the
mass distribution, uh,

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of the stuff you can see,
then it maps, uh, directly

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to the total kinematics.

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Whether that's dark matter
or this modified gravity

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or something else, we
have not yet dreamt up.

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Uh, and that's a critical part

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of understanding what's going on.

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That is unanticipated
in dark matter theory.

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00:12:08,545 --> 00:12:12,365
And as yet, not satisfactorily
explained by it,

236
00:12:12,495 --> 00:12:14,885
- We'll hear much more from
Stacey later in the podcast.

237
00:12:15,625 --> 00:12:18,445
But while Professor Magor
has moved from studying dark

238
00:12:18,445 --> 00:12:20,365
matter towards mon, Dr.

239
00:12:20,385 --> 00:12:23,525
Adrian Nik has moved
in the other direction.

240
00:12:24,345 --> 00:12:29,325
- So, um, I am a postdoc
in the, uh, department

241
00:12:29,325 --> 00:12:31,405
of, uh, physics and astronomy at St.

242
00:12:31,435 --> 00:12:34,965
Andrews. Um, I work on, uh,

243
00:12:35,375 --> 00:12:37,805
right now I work on testing the idea

244
00:12:37,835 --> 00:12:41,365
that we are living in a
local under density or void,

245
00:12:41,545 --> 00:12:43,245
and this could, um,

246
00:12:43,515 --> 00:12:46,525
perhaps solve the Hubble
tension in cosmology.

247
00:12:47,265 --> 00:12:50,565
Um, but originally this,
this postdoc was about, uh,

248
00:12:50,565 --> 00:12:54,325
implementing the, um, wide binary test

249
00:12:54,385 --> 00:12:56,805
of gravity at low accelerations.

250
00:12:57,465 --> 00:13:01,525
Um, and that took, uh,
first couple of years.

251
00:13:02,225 --> 00:13:04,645
Um, and that's something
I've been working on for

252
00:13:05,275 --> 00:13:09,525
much longer is the idea of
grooving dynamics Ormond, um,

253
00:13:10,815 --> 00:13:13,535
which, uh, is about, um,

254
00:13:14,675 --> 00:13:16,535
galaxy rotation cuffs, perhaps being

255
00:13:17,205 --> 00:13:20,745
understandable without
any dark matter at all.

256
00:13:22,365 --> 00:13:23,945
- You've changed your mind, right,

257
00:13:24,205 --> 00:13:25,465
as a result of the evidence.

258
00:13:26,605 --> 00:13:30,665
- So if, if I just work o outwards on

259
00:13:31,255 --> 00:13:33,065
from the smaller scales
to the larger ones,

260
00:13:33,365 --> 00:13:35,025
and that, that I think
will make most sense.

261
00:13:35,445 --> 00:13:38,465
So, uh, the first thing,
um, well, uh, the,

262
00:13:38,485 --> 00:13:43,475
the smaller scale thing,
uh, failure was with regard

263
00:13:43,475 --> 00:13:45,835
to the solar system FM fides.

264
00:13:46,335 --> 00:13:50,355
So, um, because modern
acceleration dependent sort

265
00:13:50,355 --> 00:13:52,675
of theory, um, the

266
00:13:53,225 --> 00:13:56,755
deviation from Newtonian
mechanics sets in at only about a

267
00:13:56,755 --> 00:13:58,875
10th of a light year
for an individual star.

268
00:13:59,415 --> 00:14:01,835
Uh, it, it's, yeah, uh,

269
00:14:01,835 --> 00:14:04,395
which is still very far
compared to all the planets.

270
00:14:04,535 --> 00:14:08,315
But the thing is, um, it's not
that much further out than,

271
00:14:08,455 --> 00:14:09,995
uh, the gas giants.

272
00:14:09,995 --> 00:14:12,395
It's like 7,000 astronom units.

273
00:14:12,655 --> 00:14:13,715
Um, whereas, uh,

274
00:14:14,215 --> 00:14:16,435
in particular Saturns
are 10 astronom units.

275
00:14:17,095 --> 00:14:19,035
Um, so you could imagine
that if you're able

276
00:14:19,035 --> 00:14:21,355
to make very precise
measurements, you might be able

277
00:14:21,355 --> 00:14:23,395
to notice some, some mon effects.

278
00:14:24,135 --> 00:14:25,835
Um, and it turns out that, uh,

279
00:14:26,035 --> 00:14:29,475
a certain anomaly is predicted in mon, um,

280
00:14:31,505 --> 00:14:35,255
which, uh, is inconsistent
with the observations

281
00:14:35,255 --> 00:14:36,855
that nine Sigma confidence.

282
00:14:37,355 --> 00:14:39,775
Um, this is based on a precise, uh,

283
00:14:39,945 --> 00:14:42,815
radar pulse is being sent to
the Cassini spacecraft with,

284
00:14:42,995 --> 00:14:44,375
or which is Saturn for many years,

285
00:14:44,835 --> 00:14:46,855
and finding exactly the
distance between Earth

286
00:14:46,855 --> 00:14:49,815
and Saturn, uh, which basically I is, uh,

287
00:14:50,495 --> 00:14:52,605
constraining the sunset and distance.

288
00:14:53,145 --> 00:14:57,365
Um, so yeah, we, uh, that, um, the,

289
00:14:57,655 --> 00:14:59,565
there was a very detailed
study on this recently,

290
00:14:59,565 --> 00:15:03,685
looking at different possible
adjustments to the mon, uh,

291
00:15:03,685 --> 00:15:04,845
theoretical parameters

292
00:15:04,945 --> 00:15:07,765
and getting the consistency
between rotation curves

293
00:15:07,765 --> 00:15:09,005
and solar system IFM rights.

294
00:15:09,345 --> 00:15:11,445
And yeah, this, this can't be done.

295
00:15:12,185 --> 00:15:16,255
Um, this, uh, um,

296
00:15:18,315 --> 00:15:21,455
uh, the, the other thing, um,

297
00:15:23,525 --> 00:15:26,415
that came up, uh, so I'll talk
about the white binaries last

298
00:15:26,415 --> 00:15:27,975
because that's more complicated,

299
00:15:28,355 --> 00:15:31,335
but the other thing that
came up was the, uh,

300
00:15:31,835 --> 00:15:36,455
galaxy clusters, um, galaxy clusters, um,

301
00:15:38,085 --> 00:15:41,585
of course, uh, one, uh, already
problematic in the sense

302
00:15:41,585 --> 00:15:42,865
that they needed extra mass.

303
00:15:43,365 --> 00:15:46,465
Uh, but, uh, this argument
didn't really convince anybody,

304
00:15:46,465 --> 00:15:49,985
because generativity also
requires galaxy clusters

305
00:15:49,985 --> 00:15:53,545
of extra mass or nutrient
gravity can't work either in.

306
00:15:53,805 --> 00:15:55,265
But, uh, the thing is, um,

307
00:15:56,605 --> 00:15:59,825
galaxy clusters have less
gravity than predicted

308
00:15:59,825 --> 00:16:01,585
by mon in their outskirts.

309
00:16:02,145 --> 00:16:04,125
Uh, and that's only become clear recently

310
00:16:04,125 --> 00:16:07,205
because we've sort of got
observation extent out further.

311
00:16:07,825 --> 00:16:10,845
But, uh, uh, there've been
a few studies now which show

312
00:16:10,845 --> 00:16:14,125
that essentially galaxy
clusters seem to follow the

313
00:16:14,675 --> 00:16:19,005
inverse square law, even in
the low acceleration regime.

314
00:16:19,265 --> 00:16:20,885
So until recently, we didn't have data

315
00:16:20,915 --> 00:16:22,485
that went sufficiently
far out from a cluster

316
00:16:22,545 --> 00:16:25,485
to get into the low acceleration
regime, but now we do,

317
00:16:25,905 --> 00:16:27,325
and it's clear that they're following

318
00:16:27,325 --> 00:16:28,405
the inverse square law.

319
00:16:28,585 --> 00:16:29,605
Um, not only that,

320
00:16:29,665 --> 00:16:32,645
but they're following the inverse
square law with, uh, with,

321
00:16:32,745 --> 00:16:36,045
uh, but the wrong sort of
normalization, if you will.

322
00:16:36,345 --> 00:16:37,725
So they're following it, uh,

323
00:16:37,745 --> 00:16:40,205
as if the Galaxy cluster has six times

324
00:16:40,225 --> 00:16:41,765
as much mass as the visible.

325
00:16:42,225 --> 00:16:44,765
Um, however, in the standard
cosmological paradigm

326
00:16:44,805 --> 00:16:46,485
that makes total sense
because it's supposed

327
00:16:46,485 --> 00:16:48,325
to be five times as much
dark matter as a visible.

328
00:16:49,025 --> 00:16:52,765
Um, so, uh, in the outskirts
of galaxy clusters, which are,

329
00:16:52,985 --> 00:16:56,285
by the way, it's so far
out that, um, there a

330
00:16:56,875 --> 00:16:58,885
mass enclosed interior to that radius.

331
00:16:59,425 --> 00:17:01,805
Uh, it, I mean, the
proportions of variance to,

332
00:17:02,265 --> 00:17:05,325
to dark matter should be
the same as the cosmic one.

333
00:17:05,865 --> 00:17:08,445
Um, it's not realistic for
bar to have been blown out

334
00:17:08,445 --> 00:17:10,445
of a whole cluster, uh, even though

335
00:17:10,445 --> 00:17:12,005
for individual galaxies that could happen.

336
00:17:12,585 --> 00:17:15,365
Um, but for whole class it's unrealistic.

337
00:17:15,585 --> 00:17:17,965
So, so it is always known
that galaxy clusters, uh,

338
00:17:19,275 --> 00:17:22,095
should get sort of around this, uh, bar

339
00:17:22,615 --> 00:17:25,175
feedback issue if you
had measurements far out,

340
00:17:25,175 --> 00:17:26,815
which recently can be available.

341
00:17:27,315 --> 00:17:29,295
Um, the other thing to
realize of course, is that

342
00:17:29,295 --> 00:17:32,455
because in qualo, even if the
normalization is higher, uh,

343
00:17:32,815 --> 00:17:35,855
ultimately the in qualo will
end up like giving less gravity

344
00:17:35,885 --> 00:17:38,695
than the sort of inverse
distance operation in wand.

345
00:17:39,155 --> 00:17:44,035
Um, so because of this,
um, ultimately, uh,

346
00:17:44,055 --> 00:17:45,315
it recently has become clear

347
00:17:45,315 --> 00:17:47,995
that there's less gravity in
the outskirts than than one

348
00:17:47,995 --> 00:17:50,045
predicts just on the, the
basis of the visible mass.

349
00:17:50,305 --> 00:17:51,965
But because you also need to add a lot

350
00:17:51,965 --> 00:17:55,485
of dark matter e even in m to
explain the central regions,

351
00:17:55,985 --> 00:17:59,045
um, it's clear that mon
substantially over predicts the

352
00:17:59,045 --> 00:18:02,765
gravity in the outskirts, and
that cannot be, uh, reconciled

353
00:18:02,765 --> 00:18:05,165
because you'd have to
add like negative, uh,

354
00:18:05,165 --> 00:18:06,405
dark matter for that to work.

355
00:18:06,805 --> 00:18:09,645
H historically, actually the
cluster result came first

356
00:18:09,865 --> 00:18:12,205
and then the wide binary result,

357
00:18:12,205 --> 00:18:13,685
and then the solar system one, uh,

358
00:18:13,825 --> 00:18:14,965
in case people are wondering.

359
00:18:15,145 --> 00:18:17,845
Um, but, um, of course
they're all in a very

360
00:18:17,845 --> 00:18:19,365
short, uh, period.

361
00:18:19,785 --> 00:18:23,965
Um, but, uh, regarding the
wide binary results, um, so

362
00:18:24,485 --> 00:18:28,975
this is look at an intermediate
scale of, uh, about, um,

363
00:18:29,225 --> 00:18:32,335
0.1, uh, light years.

364
00:18:32,955 --> 00:18:37,495
Uh, the idea here is
that, um, binary stars,

365
00:18:38,155 --> 00:18:40,655
uh, with reasonably wide separations, um,

366
00:18:40,835 --> 00:18:43,495
in the solar neighborhood,
uh, should orbit

367
00:18:43,495 --> 00:18:47,175
around each other 20% faster
than the neuturing expectation,

368
00:18:47,715 --> 00:18:48,975
uh, if mon is correct.

369
00:18:49,675 --> 00:18:53,285
Um, so, uh, that's, um,

370
00:18:53,575 --> 00:18:55,885
quite a lot compared to
the planetary separations,

371
00:18:56,105 --> 00:18:57,445
but it's much smaller than the typical

372
00:18:57,445 --> 00:18:58,885
separation between stars.

373
00:18:59,425 --> 00:19:02,645
Uh, so there's, uh, plenty
of, um, wide binaries.

374
00:19:02,745 --> 00:19:03,885
Uh, in fact, the nearest start

375
00:19:03,885 --> 00:19:07,325
to the sound is actually
itself part of a white binary.

376
00:19:07,865 --> 00:19:09,805
Um, so these are not that, um, rare.

377
00:19:10,025 --> 00:19:12,365
- The European space agency's
Gaia mission has been

378
00:19:12,395 --> 00:19:16,165
surveying the stars and giving
much more precise data than

379
00:19:16,165 --> 00:19:18,485
has ever been available before Ira

380
00:19:18,545 --> 00:19:20,525
and his colleagues have
turned to that data.

381
00:19:21,145 --> 00:19:24,565
- So, uh, what we did is we
built like a detailed sort

382
00:19:24,565 --> 00:19:28,285
of statistical model for
wide binaries, which, uh,

383
00:19:28,285 --> 00:19:31,205
I've been working on and
off towards since like, uh,

384
00:19:31,795 --> 00:19:36,525
late 2017, um, calculating the, in detail,

385
00:19:36,525 --> 00:19:37,725
the mon predictions for

386
00:19:37,725 --> 00:19:39,845
how wide binary orbits
should behave in mon,

387
00:19:39,875 --> 00:19:43,685
also in the Newtonian case,
uh, then we had to add, um,

388
00:19:43,785 --> 00:19:47,925
the possibility of a
third star orbiting one

389
00:19:47,925 --> 00:19:50,445
of the two stars in the binary,
and actually a fourth star,

390
00:19:50,445 --> 00:19:52,525
because there could be a
closed binary around both

391
00:19:52,525 --> 00:19:53,645
of the stars in the wide binary.

392
00:19:54,185 --> 00:19:56,325
Uh, but these would be
on, on very short orbits,

393
00:19:56,325 --> 00:19:59,245
and you could just focus
on this motion of the sort

394
00:19:59,245 --> 00:20:02,605
of closed binary as a whole,
uh, around the more distant,

395
00:20:02,715 --> 00:20:04,125
like wide binary companion.

396
00:20:04,585 --> 00:20:06,765
Um, and this only in the cases

397
00:20:06,765 --> 00:20:08,645
where you're not actually
detecting the closed binary,

398
00:20:08,645 --> 00:20:09,685
because if you are, then

399
00:20:09,685 --> 00:20:12,005
that would be removed from
the sample anyway, um,

400
00:20:12,145 --> 00:20:15,695
but still, um, by doing
a very detailed analysis.

401
00:20:15,695 --> 00:20:19,015
So we, we fixed the, uh,
analysis protocol as much

402
00:20:19,015 --> 00:20:21,175
as possible in advance of
getting the actual data.

403
00:20:21,675 --> 00:20:25,415
Um, we posted like a detailed
like, uh, blueprint for

404
00:20:25,435 --> 00:20:28,335
how the test should be
done in autumn 2021.

405
00:20:28,995 --> 00:20:31,705
Um, and we were able to more

406
00:20:31,705 --> 00:20:33,345
or less prepare for the actual data

407
00:20:33,345 --> 00:20:35,945
because there were previous
guide data releases,

408
00:20:35,945 --> 00:20:37,305
which weren't quite accurate enough.

409
00:20:37,805 --> 00:20:38,905
Uh, and these more

410
00:20:38,905 --> 00:20:41,785
or less showed us like how to
get, how to do the analysis.

411
00:20:41,785 --> 00:20:45,745
Like, um, the actual
analysis, uh, was sort

412
00:20:45,745 --> 00:20:49,165
of something we did as quickly as possible

413
00:20:49,165 --> 00:20:52,325
after the guide h release
three came out in June, 2022.

414
00:20:53,105 --> 00:20:56,045
Uh, and I explained to
the other authors that

415
00:20:56,585 --> 00:20:59,525
we would most likely have
clear results by the end

416
00:20:59,525 --> 00:21:01,845
of the year, um, that

417
00:21:01,845 --> 00:21:03,485
that actually turned out to be the case.

418
00:21:03,705 --> 00:21:06,365
So on fifth November,
we found out that, uh,

419
00:21:07,015 --> 00:21:10,405
there was an approximately
20 Sigma failure of mon, um,

420
00:21:10,465 --> 00:21:13,445
but the observations were
consistent with the Newtonian, uh,

421
00:21:13,495 --> 00:21:16,565
prediction within one or
two standard deviations.

422
00:21:17,105 --> 00:21:19,765
Um, so that was then
written up, uh, subsequently

423
00:21:19,765 --> 00:21:21,605
and, uh, that's been
published, uh, recently.

424
00:21:22,265 --> 00:21:25,645
Um, so there were, uh, there
was also another study by, um,

425
00:21:25,965 --> 00:21:28,565
a couple of researchers
in Queen Mary that, uh,

426
00:21:29,075 --> 00:21:31,645
were authors on, on my paper, but

427
00:21:31,705 --> 00:21:35,685
before I did that they managed
to publish their own, like

428
00:21:36,435 --> 00:21:38,805
much faster, uh, sorry, much simpler and,

429
00:21:38,805 --> 00:21:43,005
and much faster analysis, um,
which should have, um, got

430
00:21:43,065 --> 00:21:46,655
to the, uh, it should
have captured the physics,

431
00:21:46,915 --> 00:21:51,115
but, uh, effectively it's
like calling someone on a,

432
00:21:51,115 --> 00:21:53,195
on a break phone instead
of like a smartphone.

433
00:21:53,645 --> 00:21:55,355
It'll probably still work, um,

434
00:21:55,575 --> 00:21:57,475
but it's, it's a bit less, uh, ideal.

435
00:21:57,815 --> 00:21:58,875
Um, so essentially

436
00:21:58,875 --> 00:22:01,355
what I did is we explored
the parameter space much more

437
00:22:01,435 --> 00:22:02,955
thoroughly, whereas they just found like

438
00:22:02,955 --> 00:22:04,995
what was like the best model.

439
00:22:05,495 --> 00:22:06,965
Um, but,

440
00:22:07,065 --> 00:22:08,725
but still this was sufficient to see

441
00:22:08,725 --> 00:22:11,325
that there was a very
strong preference for, uh,

442
00:22:12,075 --> 00:22:13,725
Newtonian gravity of a wand.

443
00:22:14,105 --> 00:22:16,325
Um, that's why my results were not, uh,

444
00:22:16,855 --> 00:22:18,885
completely surprising.

445
00:22:19,465 --> 00:22:21,645
Um, but nonetheless, it wasn't clear

446
00:22:21,735 --> 00:22:24,285
until we did the analysis, uh, uh,

447
00:22:25,195 --> 00:22:27,485
that we would actually
get the same results.

448
00:22:27,485 --> 00:22:29,205
It's always a possibility
that it would somehow

449
00:22:29,465 --> 00:22:30,565
be different.

450
00:22:31,105 --> 00:22:33,285
Um, but no, it, it is
all quite consistent.

451
00:22:33,505 --> 00:22:38,145
Um, we also like, um, found
out, uh, the main problem

452
00:22:38,145 --> 00:22:40,465
with some other groups that
claimed there was actually a

453
00:22:40,465 --> 00:22:42,665
signal in the white binary
test that looks like Bond.

454
00:22:43,205 --> 00:22:45,225
Um, we borrowed the dataset from them,

455
00:22:45,285 --> 00:22:47,825
and, uh, we identified
like what the problem was.

456
00:22:47,845 --> 00:22:51,065
And that's explained in, um,
one of the sections in a paper,

457
00:22:51,155 --> 00:22:55,065
which is, um, uh, titled what
comparison with other, uh,

458
00:22:55,805 --> 00:22:58,105
you know, implementations
of the White binary Test.

459
00:22:58,405 --> 00:23:00,785
So, yeah, um, the, uh,
it's, it's very clear

460
00:23:00,785 --> 00:23:02,985
that wide binaries are Newtonian, uh,

461
00:23:03,125 --> 00:23:06,465
to quite high precision
about like a percent or so.

462
00:23:06,885 --> 00:23:09,785
Uh, and that's why the mon
prediction is completely

463
00:23:09,785 --> 00:23:11,545
incompatible with the observations.

464
00:23:12,045 --> 00:23:14,985
Um, it's also totally in line
with the solar system result.

465
00:23:15,245 --> 00:23:18,505
If you were to as believe
mon is correct, uh,

466
00:23:18,645 --> 00:23:20,905
and ignore all the rotation curve results,

467
00:23:20,965 --> 00:23:25,825
but just, um, believe the
casini radio tracking result,

468
00:23:26,255 --> 00:23:29,665
that would automatically
show that wide binaries need

469
00:23:29,665 --> 00:23:32,745
to be Newtonian, um, to
like within a percent

470
00:23:33,045 --> 00:23:36,785
or so, um, that wouldn't
by itself disprove bond in

471
00:23:36,785 --> 00:23:39,585
that case, that would simply
prove that wide binaries need

472
00:23:39,585 --> 00:23:40,825
to be close to Newtonian.

473
00:23:41,325 --> 00:23:44,105
Um, but then if you combine it
with rotation curve results,

474
00:23:44,645 --> 00:23:49,565
um, then you would see, uh, the
failure of, of mon um, yeah.

475
00:23:49,825 --> 00:23:52,205
So it's these three
failures, like essentially,

476
00:23:52,595 --> 00:23:55,645
like in in context, what that
means is you can't extend mon

477
00:23:55,645 --> 00:23:56,805
to even slightly smaller

478
00:23:56,825 --> 00:23:58,285
or larger scales in the Galaxy

479
00:23:58,285 --> 00:23:59,885
regimes for which it was designed. Okay,

480
00:24:00,105 --> 00:24:04,485
- But so you were
previously a proponent of,

481
00:24:05,085 --> 00:24:07,845
I mean, you were looking at it,
uh, uh, tell me how it feels

482
00:24:07,905 --> 00:24:10,445
to you when you start looking
at it at something like that

483
00:24:10,465 --> 00:24:12,005
and you go, oh, hang

484
00:24:12,005 --> 00:24:13,005
- On.

485
00:24:13,005 --> 00:24:15,045
Well, this is quite a shock
when we found out like, uh,

486
00:24:15,155 --> 00:24:18,565
that, uh, it, it didn't
fit the wide binary test.

487
00:24:18,745 --> 00:24:19,925
The, the thing is like, uh,

488
00:24:20,235 --> 00:24:22,485
because I, I knew sort of the risk

489
00:24:22,485 --> 00:24:25,725
of moral hazards was very
high, that's why we, uh, tried

490
00:24:25,725 --> 00:24:28,845
to take mitigating measures,
you know, so we'd agreed, like,

491
00:24:28,865 --> 00:24:32,405
um, so basically there's a
Gravity law parameter in the

492
00:24:32,405 --> 00:24:35,685
code, which is like zero
for Newton and one for one,

493
00:24:36,025 --> 00:24:37,965
but it's not like an inte,
it's a floating thing.

494
00:24:37,965 --> 00:24:41,125
So it, it, it could have
values between minus two

495
00:24:41,125 --> 00:24:44,485
and plus, uh, four, uh, plus 3.6.

496
00:24:44,985 --> 00:24:48,005
So, uh, what we decided in
advance is basically I either

497
00:24:48,005 --> 00:24:49,525
would give zero, it would give one,

498
00:24:49,825 --> 00:24:52,565
and the other value would
suggest this something not

499
00:24:52,565 --> 00:24:53,685
quite right with analysis.

500
00:24:54,075 --> 00:24:56,125
Also, we agree on what
some kind of variations

501
00:24:56,125 --> 00:24:57,565
to the analysis that should be done.

502
00:24:58,145 --> 00:25:00,205
And obviously if the result, um, more

503
00:25:00,205 --> 00:25:02,685
or less holds up when we
change these assumptions,

504
00:25:03,225 --> 00:25:04,325
um, that would be good.

505
00:25:04,665 --> 00:25:06,845
Uh, then some other authors
suggested some other,

506
00:25:07,035 --> 00:25:10,485
like less complicated,
uh, simple sort of ways

507
00:25:10,485 --> 00:25:11,645
of looking at the data,

508
00:25:11,815 --> 00:25:15,005
which should also clarify if
Terrine mechanics is preferred

509
00:25:15,065 --> 00:25:16,525
or, or of Mons preferred.

510
00:25:16,945 --> 00:25:19,845
Um, and all these things
gave very consistent results.

511
00:25:20,385 --> 00:25:23,325
So, um, yeah, for, in terms
of how it felt like, uh, yeah,

512
00:25:23,325 --> 00:25:27,765
this, this was quite bad <laugh>,
um, I mean, there's no way

513
00:25:27,785 --> 00:25:30,725
to describe it any other,
this was, um, yeah,

514
00:25:30,855 --> 00:25:33,245
especially in this scenario where, uh,

515
00:25:33,245 --> 00:25:35,645
it wasn't really clear what,
uh, I would work on next.

516
00:25:35,745 --> 00:25:39,205
And, uh, um, but more generally like, um,

517
00:25:40,615 --> 00:25:45,325
because, uh, it seemed likely
that other problems would come

518
00:25:45,425 --> 00:25:48,485
and, uh, yeah, that, that this was

519
00:25:49,435 --> 00:25:50,525
very bad situation.

520
00:25:50,985 --> 00:25:52,525
- Is that kind of like an overnight thing?

521
00:25:52,565 --> 00:25:54,085
I mean, how long was it in that process

522
00:25:54,185 --> 00:25:57,125
before you were sort of going,
okay, I've really gotta stop?

523
00:25:57,265 --> 00:25:59,325
- No, no, it's, it's basically
an overnight thing on the

524
00:25:59,325 --> 00:26:00,965
5th of November, 2022.

525
00:26:01,385 --> 00:26:03,885
- Really? Okay. Did you
sleep well that night?

526
00:26:04,305 --> 00:26:07,725
- Um, <laugh>, well, uh, I, I
I, I can't remember like, uh,

527
00:26:07,785 --> 00:26:09,565
but ba basically, um,

528
00:26:09,675 --> 00:26:12,125
because we'd agreed like the, all the, um,

529
00:26:13,125 --> 00:26:14,125
analysis procedures in advance

530
00:26:14,185 --> 00:26:18,965
and there was a very clear
result, um, then, um, there was,

531
00:26:19,025 --> 00:26:22,045
um, essentially no way around it.

532
00:26:22,145 --> 00:26:26,965
Um, it was just very precisely
on the Newtonian value, uh,

533
00:26:27,185 --> 00:26:29,245
rather than the mod one in principle,

534
00:26:29,265 --> 00:26:32,525
any other value could have
risen theoretically, um,

535
00:26:32,835 --> 00:26:35,285
like if there were problems
of some sort of the test or,

536
00:26:35,285 --> 00:26:36,725
or if something else was going on.

537
00:26:37,225 --> 00:26:41,945
Um, but, um, in that scenario,
uh, why the code just sort

538
00:26:41,945 --> 00:26:44,765
of prefers the, the Newtonian result, um,

539
00:26:45,055 --> 00:26:47,445
especially given there
was some previous hints

540
00:26:47,445 --> 00:26:49,965
that the outcome would be Newtonian, um,

541
00:26:50,115 --> 00:26:54,965
because of this, um, yeah,
there, there wasn't really any,

542
00:26:55,345 --> 00:26:59,805
uh, way to like, it, it was
clear at that point that, uh,

543
00:27:00,035 --> 00:27:01,045
this, this couldn't have been,

544
00:27:01,745 --> 00:27:03,325
the mon couldn't have been correct

545
00:27:04,075 --> 00:27:05,075
- Clearly.

546
00:27:05,075 --> 00:27:07,645
I wanted to know Stacey's
response to this study

547
00:27:07,745 --> 00:27:10,245
of the binary stars from the Gaia data.

548
00:27:10,635 --> 00:27:13,605
- Okay, so let me provide
some broader context,

549
00:27:13,955 --> 00:27:16,885
because like I said, my
first thought was this,

550
00:27:16,995 --> 00:27:19,685
this stupid theory I will falsify.

551
00:27:19,825 --> 00:27:23,685
And then when I actually
went through the predictions,

552
00:27:23,785 --> 00:27:25,685
it was like, check, check, check, check.

553
00:27:25,745 --> 00:27:29,485
And, and, and I had
corroborated all the predictions

554
00:27:29,485 --> 00:27:32,325
that Milgram had made
while falsifying my own.

555
00:27:32,445 --> 00:27:35,325
I had my own dark matter based
theory, and it was wrong.

556
00:27:35,545 --> 00:27:36,805
It did not do the right thing.

557
00:27:37,625 --> 00:27:40,285
And so, you know, what
was I supposed to say

558
00:27:40,395 --> 00:27:41,525
that, that he was wrong?

559
00:27:41,905 --> 00:27:45,725
Um, but there are lots
and lots of other things

560
00:27:46,115 --> 00:27:48,205
besides individual galaxies.

561
00:27:48,385 --> 00:27:50,765
So I spent several years

562
00:27:51,515 --> 00:27:53,525
reviewing all the evidence,

563
00:27:53,985 --> 00:27:57,485
and I mean all the evidence I
did, uh, a tremendous amount

564
00:27:57,505 --> 00:27:58,965
of, of work about this.

565
00:27:59,825 --> 00:28:02,685
Um, and for the most part, not all of it,

566
00:28:02,945 --> 00:28:06,605
but for the most part, all the
systems in which we inferred

567
00:28:06,675 --> 00:28:10,965
dark matter ma worked perfectly
well, sometimes better.

568
00:28:11,705 --> 00:28:13,725
Um, and I would say in fact, well,

569
00:28:14,085 --> 00:28:18,285
I had been working really
hard to explain my way out

570
00:28:18,285 --> 00:28:19,285
of the hole.

571
00:28:19,445 --> 00:28:22,285
I had dug with the data
in terms of dark matter.

572
00:28:22,705 --> 00:28:24,805
And as soon as I allowed myself to think

573
00:28:24,805 --> 00:28:26,685
of all these problems in terms of mon,

574
00:28:27,405 --> 00:28:28,925
I found I was working less hard.

575
00:28:30,425 --> 00:28:31,925
And so what I found at the time,

576
00:28:32,065 --> 00:28:34,325
and this was the nineties basically, um,

577
00:28:35,555 --> 00:28:38,215
and I've reviewed it
many times since then.

578
00:28:38,395 --> 00:28:43,295
So the statement still holds
that you can explain maybe 80%

579
00:28:43,295 --> 00:28:46,175
of the data with ma depending
<laugh> on how you want

580
00:28:46,175 --> 00:28:48,335
to define, uh, percentages.

581
00:28:48,335 --> 00:28:49,415
And it really depends on

582
00:28:49,415 --> 00:28:52,295
how you choose the way the
various lines of evidence.

583
00:28:53,795 --> 00:28:56,255
And so the other 20% just didn't work.

584
00:28:56,755 --> 00:28:59,455
And the big thing that
didn't work at the time was

585
00:28:59,535 --> 00:29:00,895
clusters of galaxies.

586
00:29:01,555 --> 00:29:03,535
Um, and that's, that's still true.

587
00:29:04,235 --> 00:29:05,775
Um, and that, you know,

588
00:29:05,775 --> 00:29:08,055
that gives me concern about
whether or not it can be true.

589
00:29:08,835 --> 00:29:11,935
But what I don't accept is that we have

590
00:29:12,135 --> 00:29:14,095
to automatically default to dark matter.

591
00:29:14,365 --> 00:29:16,415
That just was the first
thing we thought of.

592
00:29:16,755 --> 00:29:21,295
Um, and we do have to
understand why mon gets

593
00:29:21,355 --> 00:29:22,655
so many predictions, right?

594
00:29:22,845 --> 00:29:24,575
Even if it's wrong as a theory,

595
00:29:25,075 --> 00:29:27,495
and we're not really engaging
with that as a community.

596
00:29:27,755 --> 00:29:32,055
Um, most people seem to retain
the attitude that I had,

597
00:29:32,125 --> 00:29:33,935
that we know it's dark matter.

598
00:29:33,935 --> 00:29:35,255
This theory has to be wrong,

599
00:29:35,395 --> 00:29:39,695
and we just grasp at the
first straw to say it's wrong,

600
00:29:40,515 --> 00:29:42,735
um, and then never think about it again.

601
00:29:43,675 --> 00:29:47,815
Um, so Inverne is not one of those people.

602
00:29:48,195 --> 00:29:51,415
Um, he took it very seriously on very

603
00:29:51,415 --> 00:29:52,655
seriously from the beginning.

604
00:29:52,715 --> 00:29:57,655
And he constructed a, a test,
which should be, um, decisive,

605
00:29:57,715 --> 00:29:59,855
and that's to do with wide binaries.

606
00:29:59,965 --> 00:30:04,535
Basically hunt through the
Gaia database, identify pairs

607
00:30:04,535 --> 00:30:07,175
of stars that are, are
wide binary candidates,

608
00:30:07,175 --> 00:30:09,855
measure their motions also with Gaia,

609
00:30:10,315 --> 00:30:12,455
and see if you can see
a statistical signal.

610
00:30:12,965 --> 00:30:14,855
Basically you should see an enhancement

611
00:30:14,855 --> 00:30:18,135
of orbital velocities relative
to the Newtonian case.

612
00:30:18,955 --> 00:30:21,575
Um, and Indra Mill saw nothing.

613
00:30:22,075 --> 00:30:24,055
So he, you know, and,

614
00:30:24,115 --> 00:30:27,375
and I think he went into
it expecting to see it, um,

615
00:30:27,875 --> 00:30:29,455
and this would prove mon

616
00:30:29,555 --> 00:30:31,495
and in fact, he, he found the opposite.

617
00:30:31,595 --> 00:30:34,855
So he, he correctly said,
no, that doesn't work.

618
00:30:35,685 --> 00:30:39,335
Whether or not that amounts
to a falsification, uh,

619
00:30:39,605 --> 00:30:41,335
depends on what I said before.

620
00:30:41,335 --> 00:30:43,055
It depends on how you weigh all the

621
00:30:43,055 --> 00:30:44,175
different lines of evidence.

622
00:30:44,955 --> 00:30:48,015
If you put a hundred percent
of the weight onto ev, uh,

623
00:30:48,355 --> 00:30:51,335
in Nils experiment, then
yeah, it's a falsification.

624
00:30:51,795 --> 00:30:53,175
If you put a hundred percent

625
00:30:53,195 --> 00:30:56,535
of the weight on the experiment
I did long ago on low,

626
00:30:56,635 --> 00:30:59,095
low surface brightness
galaxies, it's as close

627
00:30:59,115 --> 00:31:00,935
to a confirmation as you'll ever get

628
00:31:01,185 --> 00:31:02,855
- Under re reputation of dark matter.

629
00:31:03,315 --> 00:31:05,015
- So Malin, I said is binary.

630
00:31:05,155 --> 00:31:06,455
It either works or it doesn't,

631
00:31:06,455 --> 00:31:10,335
and it works way more often
than it should if it's wrong.

632
00:31:10,795 --> 00:31:13,935
Um, dark matter isn't like that.

633
00:31:14,275 --> 00:31:18,335
We often do not have a
well defined prediction

634
00:31:18,365 --> 00:31:19,415
that comes out of it.

635
00:31:19,845 --> 00:31:20,895
It's more of an inference.

636
00:31:20,955 --> 00:31:22,895
So we see things going wrong there.

637
00:31:22,995 --> 00:31:25,655
So there's some dark matter, okay, well

638
00:31:25,655 --> 00:31:27,135
how much, how much should there be?

639
00:31:27,205 --> 00:31:28,695
What do you actually expect?

640
00:31:29,275 --> 00:31:33,135
Um, and if you're only talking
about it at the level of, oh,

641
00:31:33,135 --> 00:31:36,215
there is a discrepancy from
what we see, so there's,

642
00:31:36,355 --> 00:31:39,295
we infer there's some dark
matter, it always works.

643
00:31:40,115 --> 00:31:43,775
Um, if you actually try
to predict something,

644
00:31:44,245 --> 00:31:46,415
then it goes badly
wrong in a lot of cases.

645
00:31:46,795 --> 00:31:50,495
And one thing that you
really do not predict is

646
00:31:50,495 --> 00:31:52,295
that galaxy should look like mon.

647
00:31:52,835 --> 00:31:56,335
Um, basically if you tried
to build dark matter models,

648
00:31:56,485 --> 00:32:00,775
then you have a Newtonian,
um, collection of stars

649
00:32:01,715 --> 00:32:04,335
and a Newtonian dark matter halo,

650
00:32:04,335 --> 00:32:06,775
and you don't know what the mass

651
00:32:07,135 --> 00:32:08,335
distribution of that halo is.

652
00:32:08,515 --> 00:32:11,255
So you have to make some
assumptions in order to try

653
00:32:11,255 --> 00:32:12,775
to predict something and build a model.

654
00:32:12,835 --> 00:32:14,455
And you can make a whole
bunch of assumptions.

655
00:32:14,455 --> 00:32:16,135
And what you find is that there is this

656
00:32:16,855 --> 00:32:20,375
enormous parameter space
of what galaxies and,

657
00:32:20,435 --> 00:32:23,255
and other systems might plausibly do.

658
00:32:23,365 --> 00:32:25,335
When you have both luminous stuff

659
00:32:25,335 --> 00:32:28,195
and dark matter mixed together in mon,

660
00:32:28,195 --> 00:32:29,635
there's only one thing it can do.

661
00:32:29,695 --> 00:32:32,355
It has to follow this force
law that was written down.

662
00:32:32,895 --> 00:32:36,395
And for some reason, nature
always seems to be plucking

663
00:32:37,025 --> 00:32:40,965
this mandian, uh, appearance out of, uh,

664
00:32:41,235 --> 00:32:43,845
dark matter universe if
that's how the universe works.

665
00:32:44,665 --> 00:32:47,525
And that's, uh, you know, in a sort

666
00:32:47,525 --> 00:32:49,085
of a basian statistical sense,

667
00:32:49,225 --> 00:32:51,845
that's just completely improbable.

668
00:32:51,945 --> 00:32:53,605
It should never happen.
'cause there are all

669
00:32:53,605 --> 00:32:54,645
these other possibilities.

670
00:32:55,545 --> 00:32:58,885
Um, and the only way it happens in

671
00:32:58,885 --> 00:33:01,125
that conventional dark
matter context is if

672
00:33:01,125 --> 00:33:02,885
you make it so right.

673
00:33:03,265 --> 00:33:05,645
And so there are lots of
models out there where

674
00:33:06,055 --> 00:33:08,765
after the fact I've told
them, okay, the data do this,

675
00:33:08,825 --> 00:33:11,005
and then the modelers are
like, oh, yeah, I can do that.

676
00:33:11,745 --> 00:33:13,365
But they never did it in advance,

677
00:33:13,585 --> 00:33:16,885
and they can't actually use
that to predict anything.

678
00:33:17,275 --> 00:33:20,765
Whereas mon, I can take
and look at a galaxy

679
00:33:20,765 --> 00:33:22,725
and say, okay, I measured
the mass distribution,

680
00:33:22,805 --> 00:33:24,365
I can predict what the motions will be,

681
00:33:24,505 --> 00:33:27,405
and you know, nine times
outta 10 I'm correct.

682
00:33:28,145 --> 00:33:31,045
Um, and I'm more interested in

683
00:33:31,045 --> 00:33:33,725
that nine times outta 10
than I am out of the one.

684
00:33:33,825 --> 00:33:36,205
You know, they're
astronomical data are goofy,

685
00:33:36,205 --> 00:33:37,485
they're always some weird cases.

686
00:33:38,265 --> 00:33:42,125
Now, Indra no founding
opposite with wide binaries,

687
00:33:42,185 --> 00:33:43,845
and I take that very seriously.

688
00:33:44,145 --> 00:33:47,965
Um, so maybe that is informing
us about the deeper theory,

689
00:33:48,225 --> 00:33:50,125
not necessarily that mon is wrong,

690
00:33:50,145 --> 00:33:53,245
but we know it's not complete as a theory,

691
00:33:53,425 --> 00:33:54,845
and so maybe there's some theory

692
00:33:54,845 --> 00:33:56,165
development to be done there.

693
00:33:57,025 --> 00:34:01,205
Um, but it's, it's a little
worse than that in that there is

694
00:34:01,865 --> 00:34:05,165
as yet no consensus on the wide binaries.

695
00:34:05,545 --> 00:34:08,405
So, um, both Xavier Hernandez and,

696
00:34:08,465 --> 00:34:12,565
and independently, uh,
Kahu Kai have done the same

697
00:34:13,435 --> 00:34:17,285
experiments with Gaia,
basically the same data looking

698
00:34:17,305 --> 00:34:18,365
for wide bearing areas.

699
00:34:19,265 --> 00:34:21,605
And they both claim to
see a mon like effect.

700
00:34:22,065 --> 00:34:24,605
So where Indra nil doesn't see it

701
00:34:24,605 --> 00:34:27,845
and rules it out, they say they
do see it and must have it.

702
00:34:28,825 --> 00:34:30,565
And I don't know who to believe.

703
00:34:31,545 --> 00:34:33,605
- If you don't, can't sort it,

704
00:34:33,705 --> 00:34:35,725
how can anybody else know
what the answer is here?

705
00:34:35,725 --> 00:34:37,165
How, how can anybody look at this

706
00:34:37,165 --> 00:34:39,245
and go, oh, well, that's what's going on?

707
00:34:39,715 --> 00:34:42,815
- Well, I think it's like I say

708
00:34:43,055 --> 00:34:45,175
I, let me step back.

709
00:34:45,175 --> 00:34:46,895
There have been controversies like this in

710
00:34:47,415 --> 00:34:48,895
astronomy since its inception.

711
00:34:49,435 --> 00:34:53,695
Um, in modern times we now
have the Hubble tension, right?

712
00:34:54,115 --> 00:34:56,495
Is it 67 or 73?

713
00:34:57,155 --> 00:35:01,735
Um, when I was young, that was,
is it 50 or is it a hundred?

714
00:35:02,635 --> 00:35:06,455
And, um, it's really hard to
sort through that sort of thing

715
00:35:07,045 --> 00:35:09,575
took decades to solve the first one.

716
00:35:09,925 --> 00:35:12,895
It's may take as long
to solve the new one.

717
00:35:13,755 --> 00:35:18,335
Um, and the ideal way to do
this is for all the principles

718
00:35:18,435 --> 00:35:21,025
to get together, set

719
00:35:21,025 --> 00:35:24,865
and agreed rules that
they're all going to play by

720
00:35:25,205 --> 00:35:27,865
and then compare data, take notes,

721
00:35:28,005 --> 00:35:30,825
and agree that they've all
come to the same answer,

722
00:35:31,485 --> 00:35:32,825
uh, in the proper way.

723
00:35:33,085 --> 00:35:35,705
And, and then somebody has
to admit they're wrong.

724
00:35:36,485 --> 00:35:39,625
Um, that is the sticking point.

725
00:35:39,735 --> 00:35:42,145
Very few people are willing to do that.

726
00:35:42,845 --> 00:35:45,825
Um, and, and you know, I
would say I would do that.

727
00:35:45,945 --> 00:35:46,945
I had a prediction.

728
00:35:47,385 --> 00:35:49,305
I tried hard to fudge it,

729
00:35:49,565 --> 00:35:51,545
and I had to admit that it was just wrong.

730
00:35:51,825 --> 00:35:54,745
I what I predicted for low
surface brightness galaxies

731
00:35:55,585 --> 00:35:57,105
specifically, that they would shift off

732
00:35:57,105 --> 00:36:00,505
of the Tulley Fisher
relation that didn't happen.

733
00:36:00,925 --> 00:36:05,385
Um, and so, you know, I would prefer

734
00:36:05,385 --> 00:36:07,185
that they sort it out among themselves.

735
00:36:07,645 --> 00:36:08,825
Um, now,

736
00:36:10,085 --> 00:36:11,145
- But, but hang on.

737
00:36:11,145 --> 00:36:12,985
Isn't that what peer review does?

738
00:36:13,105 --> 00:36:14,585
I mean, isn't that essentially

739
00:36:15,425 --> 00:36:19,305
- <laugh> Oh, oh my,

740
00:36:20,365 --> 00:36:23,945
um, in principle, yes, in practice, um,

741
00:36:25,045 --> 00:36:26,985
we are all people doing these things

742
00:36:27,085 --> 00:36:29,505
and we bring our own baggage
to the reviewing process.

743
00:36:29,845 --> 00:36:33,625
And, um, I've been on both
sides of that many, many times,

744
00:36:33,925 --> 00:36:35,745
and I've seen all sorts of strange going.

745
00:36:35,805 --> 00:36:37,465
And so it, it's a, it's a bit like,

746
00:36:37,665 --> 00:36:38,785
I think it was Churchill, right?

747
00:36:38,885 --> 00:36:43,065
The peer review is, is the
worst system, uh, except

748
00:36:43,065 --> 00:36:44,225
for every other, right?

749
00:36:44,465 --> 00:36:49,305
I mean, you need some method, um, to, to,

750
00:36:49,725 --> 00:36:51,945
to review what goes into a journals

751
00:36:51,945 --> 00:36:53,585
and what counts and what qualifies.

752
00:36:54,085 --> 00:36:56,385
Uh, and that is the best
method that we have.

753
00:36:56,565 --> 00:36:57,905
But it's certainly not perfect.

754
00:36:58,645 --> 00:37:01,425
Um, and you have these controversies

755
00:37:01,425 --> 00:37:05,985
because people, um, you know, are willing

756
00:37:06,005 --> 00:37:08,265
to accept publication.

757
00:37:08,485 --> 00:37:12,865
In fact, you know, for astronomy, the,

758
00:37:13,005 --> 00:37:15,705
the acceptance rates of
most astronomy journals,

759
00:37:15,705 --> 00:37:18,025
the good ones are pretty high.

760
00:37:18,725 --> 00:37:20,425
Um, and part of that is

761
00:37:20,425 --> 00:37:24,425
because we have a long
history that is informed by

762
00:37:25,175 --> 00:37:27,585
exactly these kinds of controversies.

763
00:37:28,845 --> 00:37:33,025
So, you know, I have many
times gotten a manuscript,

764
00:37:33,065 --> 00:37:36,185
a review where I'm like,
I don't believe this, but,

765
00:37:36,405 --> 00:37:37,425
but I could be wrong.

766
00:37:38,405 --> 00:37:42,105
And so if, um, you know, the,

767
00:37:42,325 --> 00:37:44,225
the authors make a good case

768
00:37:44,405 --> 00:37:47,305
and they maybe have a kind
of data that I haven't seen

769
00:37:47,305 --> 00:37:50,265
before, then I will usually
recommend that for publication,

770
00:37:50,295 --> 00:37:52,665
even if I seriously doubt it.

771
00:37:52,665 --> 00:37:55,625
And of course, I will
explain that in my report,

772
00:37:55,725 --> 00:37:57,465
and there is some back and forth,

773
00:37:57,685 --> 00:38:00,665
and sometimes you can
get people to moderate

774
00:38:00,735 --> 00:38:02,345
what they say and sometimes not.

775
00:38:03,405 --> 00:38:06,505
Um, and it's pretty rare though.

776
00:38:06,505 --> 00:38:09,545
It does happen when you can,
when you get a paper that is,

777
00:38:09,545 --> 00:38:10,545
oh, this is just wrong.

778
00:38:11,245 --> 00:38:15,265
Um, and, and even then
sometimes they get published

779
00:38:15,265 --> 00:38:19,065
because of this long history
of getting things wrong.

780
00:38:19,805 --> 00:38:22,805
Um, I can think of cases

781
00:38:22,855 --> 00:38:25,125
where papers I think should not have been

782
00:38:25,125 --> 00:38:26,445
published, did get published.

783
00:38:27,165 --> 00:38:29,165
I cannot think of any case.

784
00:38:30,465 --> 00:38:33,085
Um, and I've done hundreds
of these at this point.

785
00:38:33,285 --> 00:38:35,205
I can't think of any case where a paper

786
00:38:35,275 --> 00:38:39,245
that was really good did not
eventually get published.

787
00:38:40,005 --> 00:38:44,165
I can think of cases where,
uh, it had to be shopped around

788
00:38:44,185 --> 00:38:47,445
to different journals, um,
before it got accepted.

789
00:38:48,225 --> 00:38:50,165
- Uh, that's interesting.
Has it always been like that?

790
00:38:50,865 --> 00:38:52,885
- You know, 20 years ago, 30 years ago,

791
00:38:53,305 --> 00:38:54,885
the only people submitting papers

792
00:38:54,985 --> 00:38:57,005
to astronomy journals were astronomers.

793
00:38:57,065 --> 00:38:59,525
It was a modest sized community.

794
00:39:00,305 --> 00:39:02,725
If you didn't know
people, you knew of them.

795
00:39:03,145 --> 00:39:05,365
And so there was a basic presumption

796
00:39:05,365 --> 00:39:08,565
that papers were being
submitted in good faith.

797
00:39:09,465 --> 00:39:12,765
Um, they at least tried right <laugh>,

798
00:39:12,765 --> 00:39:13,765
even if they got it wrong.

799
00:39:14,305 --> 00:39:16,685
Um, that's not really true today.

800
00:39:16,795 --> 00:39:19,805
There's a, a whole bunch
of predatory journals.

801
00:39:20,105 --> 00:39:24,965
Um, there are people
usually physicists, uh,

802
00:39:24,965 --> 00:39:27,245
people trained mostly
as particle physicists

803
00:39:27,265 --> 00:39:29,885
who suddenly think they're
qualified to do astronomy

804
00:39:30,875 --> 00:39:34,685
writing papers that make
some of the basic mistakes

805
00:39:34,835 --> 00:39:37,845
that the astronomical
community made 50 years ago.

806
00:39:38,105 --> 00:39:40,085
And you point these out as a reviewer

807
00:39:40,085 --> 00:39:41,965
and they're like, oh,
I never heard of that,

808
00:39:42,065 --> 00:39:43,645
so it can't possibly be right.

809
00:39:43,795 --> 00:39:46,045
It's like, no, no, really,
we've been through this before.

810
00:39:46,045 --> 00:39:47,965
You're, you're making an obvious mistake.

811
00:39:48,705 --> 00:39:51,645
Um, but the editors are also
physicists who never heard

812
00:39:51,645 --> 00:39:52,925
of whatever that issue is.

813
00:39:52,925 --> 00:39:54,405
And so it gets published anyway.

814
00:39:55,145 --> 00:39:57,005
Um, and, uh, some

815
00:39:57,005 --> 00:39:59,845
of these papers are not
even offered in good faith.

816
00:40:00,305 --> 00:40:03,245
Um, and there's a range of
ways in which that happens.

817
00:40:03,665 --> 00:40:06,565
One is just ignorance of
the history of the field.

818
00:40:06,745 --> 00:40:08,205
And so it's like, oh, you,

819
00:40:08,385 --> 00:40:11,205
you really missed a huge
section of the literature.

820
00:40:11,785 --> 00:40:13,885
And if you're trained as a
physicist, you don't even know

821
00:40:13,885 --> 00:40:15,245
what journals to look those up in.

822
00:40:15,825 --> 00:40:19,605
So it can be an honest mistake.
Um, but it is a mistake.

823
00:40:20,065 --> 00:40:23,965
And, um, there are also people,
especially on this subject

824
00:40:24,065 --> 00:40:26,845
of, of the modified
dynamics, um, you know,

825
00:40:26,845 --> 00:40:28,205
if you're a particle physicist

826
00:40:28,225 --> 00:40:29,885
who think you're gonna get a Nobel Prize

827
00:40:30,105 --> 00:40:33,365
for discovering a dark
matter particle, you know,

828
00:40:34,105 --> 00:40:37,325
you do not want to hear that
there's some other solution.

829
00:40:37,665 --> 00:40:38,965
Uh, you just don't. Uh,

830
00:40:39,385 --> 00:40:41,925
- But isn't that true of if
you think you're gonna get a

831
00:40:41,925 --> 00:40:44,285
Nobel Prize for proving
mon that you wouldn't wanna

832
00:40:44,285 --> 00:40:46,165
- Hear, I don't think
anybody's gonna get a

833
00:40:46,175 --> 00:40:47,205
Nobel Prize for that.

834
00:40:47,625 --> 00:40:49,365
Um, not anytime soon anyway.

835
00:40:49,905 --> 00:40:52,965
Um, and and I, I, I laugh at that

836
00:40:52,965 --> 00:40:57,765
because I very consciously chose to report

837
00:40:57,875 --> 00:41:00,965
what I thought was true in
the data, knowing full well

838
00:41:01,075 --> 00:41:04,965
that I would suffer a
social penalty for doing so.

839
00:41:05,625 --> 00:41:10,125
Uh, and had I realized how
steep that social cost would be,

840
00:41:10,605 --> 00:41:11,605
I might not have done it.

841
00:41:12,225 --> 00:41:15,085
And a lot of people choose not to.

842
00:41:15,825 --> 00:41:19,525
Um, so it's, it's funny, I
have conversations with people

843
00:41:20,745 --> 00:41:23,405
and they will say different
things sometimes in private than

844
00:41:23,405 --> 00:41:26,965
they do publicly, um, because
it's a controversial issue,

845
00:41:26,985 --> 00:41:28,245
and they don't want to be seen

846
00:41:28,245 --> 00:41:29,765
to be on the wrong side of that.

847
00:41:30,685 --> 00:41:32,425
Um, so I may be wrong,

848
00:41:32,685 --> 00:41:35,405
but I'm, I'm certainly
being honest about it,

849
00:41:35,505 --> 00:41:37,085
and that's why I say I don't know

850
00:41:38,075 --> 00:41:39,965
what the Y binaries are teaching us.

851
00:41:40,205 --> 00:41:44,725
I know that Inverne is convinced
that he's disproved bond,

852
00:41:45,425 --> 00:41:48,445
and I know he has made an
honest attempt at doing that.

853
00:41:48,845 --> 00:41:50,685
I just don't know if it's right

854
00:41:51,205 --> 00:41:52,205
- <laugh>, I asked Dr.

855
00:41:52,205 --> 00:41:54,005
Adrian Banick if he was surprised

856
00:41:54,005 --> 00:41:55,525
that people were still looking at mon

857
00:41:55,545 --> 00:41:56,845
as a possibility. Well,

858
00:41:56,945 --> 00:42:01,925
- Uh, the thing is, um, you,
you can try to circumvent the

859
00:42:03,335 --> 00:42:07,265
falsification by changing the
how, how the theory works.

860
00:42:07,805 --> 00:42:08,825
I'm not surprised that there'll

861
00:42:08,825 --> 00:42:09,865
be some people working on it.

862
00:42:09,915 --> 00:42:11,985
First of all, like when I
start understand people who've

863
00:42:11,985 --> 00:42:13,785
worked right for many
decades would, in any case,

864
00:42:13,805 --> 00:42:14,945
not easily give it up.

865
00:42:15,445 --> 00:42:17,785
Um, but more importantly, um,

866
00:42:19,065 --> 00:42:23,985
I would say it does work well
in the rotation curve, uh,

867
00:42:24,045 --> 00:42:26,145
was to to predict galaxy rotation curves.

868
00:42:26,685 --> 00:42:31,475
Um, and, uh, in our case, for example, uh,

869
00:42:31,985 --> 00:42:35,795
when we do cosmology,
um, we often rely on sort

870
00:42:35,795 --> 00:42:38,075
of calculations that use more,

871
00:42:38,175 --> 00:42:40,115
but as a, a proxy for

872
00:42:40,115 --> 00:42:43,035
what could happen if gravity
was enhanced in some way, uh,

873
00:42:43,035 --> 00:42:44,715
just to see what that kind, how

874
00:42:44,715 --> 00:42:45,955
that kind of simulation might differ.

875
00:42:46,345 --> 00:42:48,315
Even though by now it's
clear that the extent

876
00:42:48,375 --> 00:42:49,835
of any possible modification

877
00:42:49,835 --> 00:42:51,995
to gravity is much
smaller than Bond gives.

878
00:42:52,535 --> 00:42:54,555
Uh, but it, it's, uh, helpful as a sort

879
00:42:54,555 --> 00:42:56,275
of an extreme sort of case.

880
00:42:56,855 --> 00:43:00,235
Um, but in terms of people
working on bond, uh,

881
00:43:00,235 --> 00:43:02,635
there's actually much fewer
people working on one now, in,

882
00:43:02,635 --> 00:43:06,115
in terms of doing like numerical
bond simulations, uh, a lot

883
00:43:06,115 --> 00:43:08,995
of the people working on
this in v uh, have left.

884
00:43:09,495 --> 00:43:12,195
Uh, that's just because
of the PhD's finishing.

885
00:43:12,195 --> 00:43:14,035
But the thing is, like, it's not, they,

886
00:43:14,035 --> 00:43:16,475
they hire new PhD
students to work on bond.

887
00:43:16,935 --> 00:43:20,355
Um, so, uh, that, that's,
uh, sort of thing.

888
00:43:20,455 --> 00:43:22,195
And, uh, certainly there aren't very many

889
00:43:22,275 --> 00:43:23,715
postdocs working on bond.

890
00:43:24,215 --> 00:43:26,875
Um, and the postdoc stage
especially, you'd have

891
00:43:26,875 --> 00:43:29,275
to write like specific grant proposals.

892
00:43:29,335 --> 00:43:30,795
And this can't really,

893
00:43:31,025 --> 00:43:33,235
it's not really investible,
uh, at the moment.

894
00:43:33,935 --> 00:43:36,315
Uh, obviously I'm not entirely sure if it,

895
00:43:36,315 --> 00:43:37,995
if it will be in the future,

896
00:43:38,135 --> 00:43:39,715
but, um, that seems very unlikely.

897
00:43:39,975 --> 00:43:41,675
But certainly right now it's, it's not.

898
00:43:42,295 --> 00:43:45,715
Um, so yeah, there's
also much fewer in terms

899
00:43:45,715 --> 00:43:47,555
of early care researchers working on one.

900
00:43:47,555 --> 00:43:49,235
There's very few, there's, there's people

901
00:43:49,235 --> 00:43:51,315
who already have tenure,
a lot of free time

902
00:43:51,335 --> 00:43:54,075
and can afford to work
on one regardless of

903
00:43:54,105 --> 00:43:56,675
what other people think in terms
of people who actually have

904
00:43:56,675 --> 00:43:58,315
to write a grant to work on wand.

905
00:43:58,775 --> 00:44:00,835
Uh, you had that in the past,

906
00:44:01,695 --> 00:44:04,075
but, uh, you don't really have that now.

907
00:44:04,435 --> 00:44:07,795
A apart from, um, obviously,
you know, a handful of people

908
00:44:07,795 --> 00:44:09,715
who got grants before it was falsified

909
00:44:09,735 --> 00:44:10,955
and then they're still working.

910
00:44:11,135 --> 00:44:13,075
That's, uh, one of the exceptions

911
00:44:13,385 --> 00:44:14,635
- More from midrail soon.

912
00:44:14,695 --> 00:44:16,435
But let's go back to my conversation

913
00:44:16,665 --> 00:44:18,275
with Professor Stacey McGill.

914
00:44:18,415 --> 00:44:22,195
But if it is, and he is disproven bond

915
00:44:23,175 --> 00:44:26,435
for the wide binaries,
does that, does that mean

916
00:44:27,215 --> 00:44:29,515
you abandon it and you
look at something else?

917
00:44:29,575 --> 00:44:30,795
Or, or what does that mean for you?

918
00:44:31,675 --> 00:44:35,125
- That is a great question and
I wish I had a great answer.

919
00:44:35,505 --> 00:44:40,165
Um, because I have spent a
lot of time trying to find

920
00:44:40,165 --> 00:44:42,085
that intermediate case, right?

921
00:44:42,345 --> 00:44:45,605
So, um, and there are
hybrid models out there

922
00:44:45,705 --> 00:44:48,845
and they all sort of feel wrong to me.

923
00:44:48,985 --> 00:44:52,205
And, and I don't wanna go
into a great length about each

924
00:44:52,265 --> 00:44:54,645
one, but I've tried to do
that and I have failed.

925
00:44:55,465 --> 00:45:00,045
Um, but ultimately, like I say, one needs

926
00:45:00,065 --> 00:45:03,365
to be able to explain the phenomena

927
00:45:03,365 --> 00:45:05,725
that ma does predict correctly.

928
00:45:06,465 --> 00:45:07,645
And there is a lot of that.

929
00:45:08,305 --> 00:45:09,885
And it does not sit well

930
00:45:09,885 --> 00:45:11,485
with the normal dark matter picture.

931
00:45:11,845 --> 00:45:14,325
I mean, uh, you can find
people who say, oh, yeah, I,

932
00:45:14,445 --> 00:45:17,165
I can do that, but no,
I've been through that.

933
00:45:17,225 --> 00:45:18,965
If I thought I could explain it easily

934
00:45:18,995 --> 00:45:21,045
with dark matter, I would do so.

935
00:45:21,505 --> 00:45:24,525
Um, I am still personally way
more comfortable with that.

936
00:45:24,765 --> 00:45:26,605
'cause basically that's
what I grew up with.

937
00:45:27,385 --> 00:45:28,765
Um, and I would also love

938
00:45:28,785 --> 00:45:30,645
to stop having this argument with people.

939
00:45:30,785 --> 00:45:35,205
It gets old. Um, but
it's, it's just not true.

940
00:45:35,745 --> 00:45:40,415
Um, it is very hard to
explain, uh, the phenomenology

941
00:45:40,475 --> 00:45:41,975
of galaxies and a lot of other things

942
00:45:42,125 --> 00:45:46,415
with our conventional
notions of non-BAR cold,

943
00:45:46,535 --> 00:45:49,935
dark matter, just some new
particle that's not good enough.

944
00:45:50,135 --> 00:45:52,295
'cause what we see in the
data is a clear connection

945
00:45:52,295 --> 00:45:54,415
between the distribution
of the stuff we see

946
00:45:54,795 --> 00:45:56,815
and the dynamics that we get.

947
00:45:57,555 --> 00:46:00,335
And so the dark matter knows, uh,

948
00:46:00,335 --> 00:46:01,855
what the normal matter is doing.

949
00:46:01,855 --> 00:46:04,455
There needs to be some
direct link between them

950
00:46:04,565 --> 00:46:06,495
that is way stronger

951
00:46:06,555 --> 00:46:08,615
and more compelling than just gravity,

952
00:46:08,745 --> 00:46:11,695
which is a really weak, um, force.

953
00:46:11,965 --> 00:46:13,575
It's, it doesn't organize things.

954
00:46:13,635 --> 00:46:16,615
And so, so to give you an example, a lot

955
00:46:16,615 --> 00:46:18,775
of times I will make this point, oh, the,

956
00:46:18,875 --> 00:46:22,415
the barian tail is lagging
the dark matter dog.

957
00:46:22,415 --> 00:46:23,495
That doesn't make sense.

958
00:46:23,755 --> 00:46:24,815
Uh, 'cause the,

959
00:46:25,045 --> 00:46:28,135
basically you can have a dark
matter distribution that does

960
00:46:29,045 --> 00:46:30,055
what you need it to do,

961
00:46:31,215 --> 00:46:33,155
but you can only do that
'cause you don't know.

962
00:46:33,215 --> 00:46:34,635
You can't see it. So you just say, oh,

963
00:46:34,635 --> 00:46:35,915
it is whatever I need it to be.

964
00:46:36,015 --> 00:46:37,075
You can't predict it.

965
00:46:37,695 --> 00:46:40,075
And so the, basically the
luminous matter is telling

966
00:46:40,075 --> 00:46:41,115
the dark matter what to do.

967
00:46:41,545 --> 00:46:42,635
That doesn't make sense.

968
00:46:42,935 --> 00:46:44,715
Um, 'cause there's a lot more dark matter.

969
00:46:45,095 --> 00:46:47,275
So people say, oh, well dark matter tells

970
00:46:47,275 --> 00:46:48,475
the luminous matter what to do.

971
00:46:49,305 --> 00:46:52,915
It's like, okay, that sounds
wise, but actually it's stupid

972
00:46:53,225 --> 00:46:57,035
because you cannot use that
statement to construct a model

973
00:46:57,035 --> 00:46:58,755
that predicts anything successfully.

974
00:46:59,555 --> 00:47:02,755
I know I've tried, I've tried really hard.

975
00:47:03,295 --> 00:47:06,475
Um, and so it's really the
difference between, um,

976
00:47:06,495 --> 00:47:09,075
taking some data and
fitting it, that's easy.

977
00:47:09,225 --> 00:47:12,395
I've also done that you can
always find a dark matter model

978
00:47:12,425 --> 00:47:15,315
that fits once you're
told what the data is.

979
00:47:15,855 --> 00:47:19,315
The challenging thing is to
make a model that predicts

980
00:47:19,505 --> 00:47:21,955
what we see in advance, uh,

981
00:47:22,015 --> 00:47:24,475
and that nobody has demonstrated so far

982
00:47:24,575 --> 00:47:25,575
- Mm-Hmm.

983
00:47:25,585 --> 00:47:27,635
Does the fact that we can't use something

984
00:47:27,635 --> 00:47:28,755
to predict it mean it's not true?

985
00:47:28,970 --> 00:47:30,590
Or does it just mean we just can't predict

986
00:47:30,590 --> 00:47:31,590
- It?

987
00:47:31,590 --> 00:47:33,885
Well, so no, and that's one
of the frustrating things.

988
00:47:33,905 --> 00:47:37,085
So at one point, oh geez,
almost a decade now ago now,

989
00:47:37,125 --> 00:47:38,765
I wrote a review in which I said

990
00:47:38,765 --> 00:47:41,365
that the two things were in commiserate

991
00:47:41,545 --> 00:47:42,965
and they really are in commiserate.

992
00:47:43,665 --> 00:47:46,725
Um, so yeah, just

993
00:47:46,845 --> 00:47:49,565
'cause something can't predict
it doesn't mean it's wrong.

994
00:47:50,425 --> 00:47:54,535
Um, on the other hand that
something does predict it,

995
00:47:54,595 --> 00:47:57,935
we usually take to be an
indication it might be right.

996
00:47:58,675 --> 00:48:02,495
Um, and that is basically the answer

997
00:48:02,595 --> 00:48:05,135
to the question you posed
is what would I do next?

998
00:48:05,135 --> 00:48:06,695
Well, that's what I've been trying to do.

999
00:48:06,695 --> 00:48:09,175
And what I've been trying to
get other people to do is like,

1000
00:48:09,245 --> 00:48:12,775
okay, I am open to an a
dark matter interpretation,

1001
00:48:12,835 --> 00:48:14,455
but you actually have to demonstrate

1002
00:48:15,115 --> 00:48:18,135
how this mon like force
law follows from that.

1003
00:48:18,935 --> 00:48:21,975
I have not been able to do
that in a satisfactory model.

1004
00:48:22,715 --> 00:48:24,255
Um, in fact, I thought

1005
00:48:24,875 --> 00:48:27,015
at several points in
my career I had done it

1006
00:48:27,715 --> 00:48:31,175
and I realized I had assumed
something along the way

1007
00:48:31,205 --> 00:48:33,575
that made it so it was
basically a tautology.

1008
00:48:34,435 --> 00:48:38,295
Um, and I see lots of
models being published

1009
00:48:38,295 --> 00:48:39,415
that say, oh yeah, we do this.

1010
00:48:39,515 --> 00:48:41,175
And I look at them, it's
like, oh yeah, I made

1011
00:48:41,175 --> 00:48:43,055
that tautology 20 years ago.

1012
00:48:43,195 --> 00:48:44,935
You're just making the same mistake.

1013
00:48:45,715 --> 00:48:50,095
Um, and you know, so one has

1014
00:48:50,095 --> 00:48:52,535
to actually demonstrate that
with a satisfactory model,

1015
00:48:52,635 --> 00:48:55,255
and that's a much higher
standard than its sounds.

1016
00:48:55,755 --> 00:49:00,035
Um, and people are not
doing that in large part

1017
00:49:00,035 --> 00:49:02,835
because they're already convinced
it has to be dark matter.

1018
00:49:02,975 --> 00:49:06,995
And so there's a very low
bar, um, to trip over to say,

1019
00:49:06,995 --> 00:49:08,035
oh yeah, I got that right.

1020
00:49:08,215 --> 00:49:09,475
Can you give me an example of that?

1021
00:49:09,695 --> 00:49:12,675
Uh, so the standard dark matter
halo is this thing called an

1022
00:49:12,715 --> 00:49:16,795
NFW halo that specifies a
particular density profile.

1023
00:49:17,615 --> 00:49:20,755
Um, and it has its problems,
but if you take that

1024
00:49:21,335 --> 00:49:23,435
and the stellar mass halo mass relation

1025
00:49:23,585 --> 00:49:24,835
that people think work

1026
00:49:25,335 --> 00:49:28,355
and put some bunch of
exponential discs in there,

1027
00:49:28,365 --> 00:49:31,195
which is the standard sort
of approximation we use

1028
00:49:31,215 --> 00:49:35,235
for the luminous parts of
galaxies, then it almost adds up

1029
00:49:35,235 --> 00:49:38,595
to something that I call the
radio acceleration relation.

1030
00:49:39,535 --> 00:49:43,965
Um, which is the sort of manifestation

1031
00:49:43,965 --> 00:49:45,645
of mon in a conventional sense.

1032
00:49:45,745 --> 00:49:47,925
If I didn't know about mon

1033
00:49:48,555 --> 00:49:51,685
then I could still say this
relation is there in the data,

1034
00:49:52,105 --> 00:49:53,845
and it happens to look exactly like mon,

1035
00:49:53,905 --> 00:49:55,085
but let's do it some other way.

1036
00:49:55,825 --> 00:49:59,165
And that, that modeling procedure I just

1037
00:49:59,165 --> 00:50:00,645
described almost works.

1038
00:50:00,985 --> 00:50:04,165
Um, and so if you don't look
too closely, then it's like,

1039
00:50:04,165 --> 00:50:06,645
oh, that's fine, and you
go on your merry way.

1040
00:50:07,265 --> 00:50:11,765
Um, but it has some
assumptions built into it like

1041
00:50:11,765 --> 00:50:14,725
that still a mass halo, mass
relation, a a relation between

1042
00:50:15,425 --> 00:50:18,245
how big the dark matter
is, halo is for a galaxy

1043
00:50:18,245 --> 00:50:19,325
of a given, still our mass.

1044
00:50:19,865 --> 00:50:23,925
Um, that's not native. We
already had to fit that to data.

1045
00:50:24,585 --> 00:50:27,845
And in fact, that was one
of the things that gave me

1046
00:50:28,645 --> 00:50:31,645
problems with the dark matter
paradigm in the first place,

1047
00:50:31,705 --> 00:50:35,845
is that the obvious
thing to, uh, assume was

1048
00:50:35,845 --> 00:50:37,485
that there's a one-to-one relation.

1049
00:50:37,825 --> 00:50:41,245
You know, basically there's a
fixed ratio between the amount

1050
00:50:41,245 --> 00:50:43,045
of dark matter and the
amount of luminous matter.

1051
00:50:43,825 --> 00:50:47,895
Uh, and that is such an
obvious thing, uh, to assume

1052
00:50:47,965 --> 00:50:50,415
that we assumed it all through the 1990s

1053
00:50:50,475 --> 00:50:53,775
and we fought really hard
to not do that, right?

1054
00:50:54,075 --> 00:50:55,695
We did not want to abandon that.

1055
00:50:56,435 --> 00:50:59,055
Uh, and by the turn of
the century we realized

1056
00:50:59,085 --> 00:51:00,335
that we had to do so.

1057
00:51:01,475 --> 00:51:03,775
And one of the reasons is the kind of data

1058
00:51:03,935 --> 00:51:05,535
that we've just been talking about,

1059
00:51:05,605 --> 00:51:07,055
that it simply doesn't work.

1060
00:51:07,875 --> 00:51:12,295
And so if you now 20 years
later make a model that assumes,

1061
00:51:12,675 --> 00:51:17,015
um, that there is some
magic stellar mass halo,

1062
00:51:17,015 --> 00:51:20,015
mass relation, well, you're
already assuming a large part

1063
00:51:20,015 --> 00:51:22,895
of the answer that was
established as something

1064
00:51:23,015 --> 00:51:24,575
that didn't work a long time ago.

1065
00:51:25,195 --> 00:51:27,495
Um, it's just been long
enough we've forgotten that,

1066
00:51:27,495 --> 00:51:30,855
that we've granted ourself
this role in fudge factor.

1067
00:51:31,555 --> 00:51:34,375
Um, even after that, it
still doesn't work, right?

1068
00:51:34,515 --> 00:51:36,455
But I, I mentioned this particular case

1069
00:51:36,455 --> 00:51:39,455
because, um, Julio Navarro,

1070
00:51:39,505 --> 00:51:43,375
who's the inn in NFW Halos,
built exactly a model like this,

1071
00:51:44,125 --> 00:51:46,135
it's like seven years
ago now, and it's like,

1072
00:51:46,995 --> 00:51:48,055
and, and said it worked.

1073
00:51:48,075 --> 00:51:49,495
And I'm like, didn't I try that?

1074
00:51:49,635 --> 00:51:51,935
And sure enough, I went
back and looked and,

1075
00:51:52,195 --> 00:51:55,375
and the last time I had
touched the files was in 2000,

1076
00:51:56,195 --> 00:51:58,695
but it was exactly the same kind of model,

1077
00:51:59,275 --> 00:52:01,095
and I had dismissed it as not working.

1078
00:52:01,235 --> 00:52:03,535
And the reason was what I just described,

1079
00:52:03,535 --> 00:52:07,295
because I assumed something
different about the ratio

1080
00:52:07,295 --> 00:52:08,655
between luminous and dark matter.

1081
00:52:09,165 --> 00:52:10,455
Well, I could update that

1082
00:52:10,515 --> 00:52:12,295
and then I could reproduce his result,

1083
00:52:12,555 --> 00:52:15,535
but I was just, it's
another tology, right?

1084
00:52:15,575 --> 00:52:19,335
I was choosing, uh,
relation between the masses,

1085
00:52:19,335 --> 00:52:21,815
the dark matter halo, and the
luminous mass that made it.

1086
00:52:21,835 --> 00:52:23,375
So, um,

1087
00:52:23,795 --> 00:52:25,935
and that kind of thing is now so

1088
00:52:26,515 --> 00:52:28,335
deeply buried in our psyches.

1089
00:52:28,355 --> 00:52:29,655
It is very hard, right?

1090
00:52:29,705 --> 00:52:32,255
We've gotten way, way
deep in this rabbit hole.

1091
00:52:32,355 --> 00:52:34,335
You know, once you're down
a rabbit hole <laugh>,

1092
00:52:34,595 --> 00:52:36,775
you don't wanna change, right? It's,

1093
00:52:36,795 --> 00:52:39,015
- But I've spoken to two people
today who have done exactly

1094
00:52:39,015 --> 00:52:40,015
that, who have changed, right?

1095
00:52:40,035 --> 00:52:42,975
But in different directions.
So, so people do change.

1096
00:52:43,045 --> 00:52:44,575
They do look at the evidence and change,

1097
00:52:44,595 --> 00:52:46,095
but you've gone different ways.

1098
00:52:47,095 --> 00:52:51,615
- <laugh>, fair, fair,
you know, some of us do,

1099
00:52:51,635 --> 00:52:54,255
but it's actually in
minority in my experience.

1100
00:52:54,795 --> 00:52:57,855
Um, and it's, it's even
more complicated than that.

1101
00:52:58,135 --> 00:53:01,975
'cause for the most part in,
in the community, I think,

1102
00:53:03,085 --> 00:53:05,255
like for me, dark matter was something,

1103
00:53:05,275 --> 00:53:06,335
oh yeah, we need that.

1104
00:53:06,595 --> 00:53:08,015
Uh, when we make galaxies,

1105
00:53:08,175 --> 00:53:09,575
I wasn't really concerned about that.

1106
00:53:09,855 --> 00:53:12,935
I knew it was an element,
but I was specifically trying

1107
00:53:12,935 --> 00:53:15,535
to understand these low
surface brightness galaxies.

1108
00:53:16,555 --> 00:53:20,905
Um, and I did not care one way

1109
00:53:20,925 --> 00:53:23,105
or another about there being dark matter.

1110
00:53:23,205 --> 00:53:24,905
It was just one of the ingredients

1111
00:53:25,005 --> 00:53:26,325
that goes into these models.

1112
00:53:27,105 --> 00:53:30,725
Um, and so the data made
me think carefully about

1113
00:53:30,725 --> 00:53:33,965
that in a way that I
simply hadn't been obliged

1114
00:53:34,185 --> 00:53:35,445
to do before that.

1115
00:53:36,105 --> 00:53:37,885
Uh, and I think that's
where most people are.

1116
00:53:37,955 --> 00:53:42,045
It's not that they, uh,
there's simply not challenge

1117
00:53:42,425 --> 00:53:43,605
to change their minds.

1118
00:53:43,635 --> 00:53:45,685
It's not that important
to what they're doing,

1119
00:53:45,985 --> 00:53:47,045
uh, day by day.

1120
00:53:47,445 --> 00:53:48,965
I mean, same thing for cosmology.

1121
00:53:49,345 --> 00:53:52,085
Um, you know, if mon is correct,

1122
00:53:52,385 --> 00:53:55,325
and we do not understand
a lot of the things

1123
00:53:55,325 --> 00:53:58,525
that we think we
understand in terms of, uh,

1124
00:53:58,545 --> 00:54:00,645
our modern Lambda CDM cosmology

1125
00:54:01,705 --> 00:54:05,405
and, you know, putting
on a cosmologist hat, I,

1126
00:54:05,845 --> 00:54:09,085
I get why we arrived
at the model we are at.

1127
00:54:09,105 --> 00:54:11,245
And there are a lot of
compelling reasons for that.

1128
00:54:12,185 --> 00:54:15,085
Um, you know, putting on a
mon hat, I'm like, well, yeah,

1129
00:54:15,265 --> 00:54:18,605
you got this invisible mass
plus now this dark energy

1130
00:54:18,825 --> 00:54:21,725
and, you know, <laugh>, these are the sort

1131
00:54:21,725 --> 00:54:23,765
of ancillary hypotheses or,

1132
00:54:23,785 --> 00:54:26,365
or tooth fairies if
you want, that you have

1133
00:54:26,365 --> 00:54:29,485
to invoke when a theory
is on its last legs.

1134
00:54:30,265 --> 00:54:34,175
And it's conceivable that
we're doing that in order

1135
00:54:34,275 --> 00:54:38,375
to use the theory to approximate
some deeper unknown theory

1136
00:54:38,445 --> 00:54:40,935
that hopefully would
encompass both general

1137
00:54:40,935 --> 00:54:42,135
relativity and mind.

1138
00:54:42,915 --> 00:54:44,575
But we don't really have that theory

1139
00:54:44,835 --> 00:54:47,335
and there aren't really
any people working on it.

1140
00:54:47,435 --> 00:54:50,335
And so who knows, you know,
maybe it's impossible,

1141
00:54:50,395 --> 00:54:52,975
but, um, we haven't
really tried that hard.

1142
00:54:53,495 --> 00:54:54,575
- I wondered if IL thought

1143
00:54:54,575 --> 00:54:57,615
that we do still need
something else, something

1144
00:54:57,695 --> 00:55:01,255
that isn't dark matter to
explain the way that things are.

1145
00:55:01,725 --> 00:55:03,695
- Well, if you look at
scales smaller than a,

1146
00:55:03,695 --> 00:55:05,415
than a MegaPath and, uh, leave

1147
00:55:05,415 --> 00:55:08,535
beside the cosmological
tensions for a moment, then, um,

1148
00:55:08,595 --> 00:55:12,115
for the galaxy scales and, um, and,

1149
00:55:12,135 --> 00:55:15,675
and larger, uh, cluster
scales, then, uh, I think you

1150
00:55:16,635 --> 00:55:18,995
probably do need something else,

1151
00:55:19,175 --> 00:55:21,195
as in you need some
adjustments to the properties

1152
00:55:21,195 --> 00:55:23,475
for dark matter, so it doesn't
cluster so efficiently.

1153
00:55:24,015 --> 00:55:27,035
And in terms of the, uh, tightness

1154
00:55:27,035 --> 00:55:30,355
of the radial acceleration
relation, um, yeah, I'm,

1155
00:55:30,355 --> 00:55:32,915
I'm still not entirely
sure how that would arise.

1156
00:55:33,685 --> 00:55:35,675
There may be, for example, a hidden

1157
00:55:36,135 --> 00:55:38,915
or an unknown, maybe
an unknown interaction

1158
00:55:38,915 --> 00:55:41,635
between the dark matter and the barons.

1159
00:55:41,775 --> 00:55:46,435
Uh, maybe, uh, that helps to
keep the two in sort of line

1160
00:55:47,215 --> 00:55:49,315
and following the RAR maybe.

1161
00:55:49,815 --> 00:55:52,075
Um, so yeah, there, there
is some chance that you,

1162
00:55:52,095 --> 00:55:53,875
you need some additional ingredients.

1163
00:55:54,095 --> 00:55:57,995
In fact, it's very likely
because, um, for example,

1164
00:55:58,095 --> 00:56:00,675
if dark matter reached the
very high central densities

1165
00:56:00,675 --> 00:56:03,795
that are predicted, um,
many problems would arise

1166
00:56:03,795 --> 00:56:07,395
observationally, uh,
including the rotation speeds

1167
00:56:07,395 --> 00:56:09,955
of galaxy bars in the
centrals of galaxies becoming

1168
00:56:10,615 --> 00:56:11,835
slowed down by sort

1169
00:56:11,995 --> 00:56:14,195
of gravitational friction
against the dark matter.

1170
00:56:14,855 --> 00:56:16,235
Um, which doesn't really happen.

1171
00:56:16,775 --> 00:56:21,445
Um, but, uh, I I, I do
think that, uh, yeah, there,

1172
00:56:21,445 --> 00:56:23,185
there's a decent chance, um,

1173
00:56:23,285 --> 00:56:25,465
you almost actually do
need some additional thing.

1174
00:56:25,465 --> 00:56:27,905
It can't be purely the Lambda CDM model,

1175
00:56:28,255 --> 00:56:29,905
even on the galaxy scales.

1176
00:56:30,565 --> 00:56:31,945
Um, yeah,

1177
00:56:32,445 --> 00:56:36,185
but the basic picture of the
dark matter halos plus the an

1178
00:56:36,185 --> 00:56:40,705
inverse square gravity law,
uh, being the, the main sort

1179
00:56:40,705 --> 00:56:44,185
of things that main, main
thing that's going on that

1180
00:56:44,745 --> 00:56:46,385
I think is probably correct.

1181
00:56:47,165 --> 00:56:51,345
Um, it just, it might need to
be, uh, tweaked in some way.

1182
00:56:52,135 --> 00:56:55,905
- What could possibly bring
mon back into your kind

1183
00:56:55,905 --> 00:56:56,905
of like research area.

1184
00:56:56,905 --> 00:56:58,505
You thought, oh, yeah, no,
I will look at it again.

1185
00:56:59,085 --> 00:57:03,305
- So, uh, the original mon
field equations have been

1186
00:57:03,305 --> 00:57:06,985
falsified in high significance
on, on the galaxy scales.

1187
00:57:07,125 --> 00:57:11,145
Uh, if, if additional tests of the

1188
00:57:11,875 --> 00:57:16,245
so-called, uh, dynamical friction may help

1189
00:57:16,705 --> 00:57:19,805
to clarify if, if there is dark matter.

1190
00:57:20,425 --> 00:57:24,445
So there have been some studies
recently which show that,

1191
00:57:24,625 --> 00:57:26,165
um, essentially

1192
00:57:26,185 --> 00:57:28,965
as the large magnetic cloud
is mo orbiting the Milky Way,

1193
00:57:29,225 --> 00:57:31,485
it, it seems to have
experienced dynamical friction.

1194
00:57:32,105 --> 00:57:34,815
Um, but, uh, studies to try

1195
00:57:34,815 --> 00:57:38,535
and clarify like this issue further, uh,

1196
00:57:38,555 --> 00:57:41,255
and also sort of how much the
milk curate disc has recoiled

1197
00:57:41,315 --> 00:57:46,215
due to the large mag cloud,
which places a limit like it,

1198
00:57:46,215 --> 00:57:48,455
it measures the mass ratio
between the two, right?

1199
00:57:49,115 --> 00:57:51,175
Um, and that's actually very different

1200
00:57:51,175 --> 00:57:52,535
to the ratio visible mass.

1201
00:57:53,035 --> 00:57:55,095
Uh, it's, it's more in line with, uh,

1202
00:57:55,095 --> 00:57:57,855
the ratio it's expect in
the dark matter picture.

1203
00:57:58,395 --> 00:58:00,895
Um, but, uh, measurements
like this, uh, in, in theory,

1204
00:58:00,915 --> 00:58:03,015
if someone were to, uh, if,

1205
00:58:03,015 --> 00:58:04,695
if these measurements
would somehow to turn out

1206
00:58:04,695 --> 00:58:07,575
to be not correct, and
actually the mass ratio

1207
00:58:07,575 --> 00:58:11,175
between the milky and the
LMC is about one to 20 ish,

1208
00:58:11,385 --> 00:58:15,055
which is the ratio of the
visible mass instead of the one

1209
00:58:15,055 --> 00:58:17,335
to five ratio that's
observed and also more

1210
00:58:17,335 --> 00:58:21,285
or less expected in the
standard model, um, then, uh,

1211
00:58:21,315 --> 00:58:23,365
that would obviously
provide compelling evidence.

1212
00:58:23,365 --> 00:58:28,125
The galaxies are purely
bar, uh, in theory, uh,

1213
00:58:28,155 --> 00:58:29,205
that that could happen.

1214
00:58:29,585 --> 00:58:32,085
Um, and, uh, things like
if you managed to prove

1215
00:58:32,085 --> 00:58:34,445
that even such a massive galaxy as LMC

1216
00:58:34,785 --> 00:58:35,965
or something that should be

1217
00:58:35,965 --> 00:58:38,285
so massive in the standard
model, given it's stellar mass

1218
00:58:38,785 --> 00:58:43,165
and typical sort of stellar
to dark halo mappings, um, if

1219
00:58:43,165 --> 00:58:45,685
that experience like no
dynamical friction, uh,

1220
00:58:45,745 --> 00:58:47,445
or new place, really
tight upper limit on it.

1221
00:58:47,625 --> 00:58:51,765
So there's some ways in,
in theory that code, um,

1222
00:58:53,275 --> 00:58:57,265
maybe, uh, show that you
don't have much dark matter

1223
00:58:57,365 --> 00:59:01,505
around galaxies, um, which in turn would,

1224
00:59:02,515 --> 00:59:05,695
um, show that, well,
if you have to make do

1225
00:59:05,695 --> 00:59:07,815
with the visible mass, you,
you'd have to modify the,

1226
00:59:08,195 --> 00:59:10,015
the law of, of gravity

1227
00:59:10,155 --> 00:59:12,815
or invent additional
forces in in some way.

1228
00:59:13,025 --> 00:59:16,455
There is a very high likelihood
of additional problems

1229
00:59:16,525 --> 00:59:20,695
with the Lambda CDM on even
larger scales with, with regards

1230
00:59:20,695 --> 00:59:21,805
to the Hubble tension.

1231
00:59:22,425 --> 00:59:25,485
Uh, and, uh, this is what I'm
working on now, the idea that

1232
00:59:26,285 --> 00:59:27,525
structure formation, uh,

1233
00:59:27,545 --> 00:59:30,205
and perhaps the law of
gravity most likely needs

1234
00:59:30,205 --> 00:59:33,125
to be modified in much larger
scales of, uh, several dozen,

1235
00:59:33,195 --> 00:59:35,365
like up hundreds of MegaPath.

1236
00:59:36,345 --> 00:59:38,725
Uh, and, uh, so hundreds
of millions of light years.

1237
00:59:38,785 --> 00:59:40,005
And what, uh,

1238
00:59:40,135 --> 00:59:44,005
might happen there is if you
form a significant local under

1239
00:59:44,005 --> 00:59:47,405
density, uh, well, you'd
form densities as well,

1240
00:59:47,405 --> 00:59:49,085
but if we happen to be
living in an under density,

1241
00:59:49,555 --> 00:59:51,285
then locally the universe would appear

1242
00:59:51,285 --> 00:59:53,925
to be expanding faster
than it kinda actually is.

1243
00:59:54,525 --> 00:59:56,885
'cause there's additional
outward motion due to the void.

1244
00:59:57,545 --> 01:00:00,125
Um, and that may solve the Hubble tension.

1245
01:00:00,665 --> 01:00:04,405
Um, we're actually able to
recently use a model along those

1246
01:00:04,405 --> 01:00:05,845
lines that we published in 2020.

1247
01:00:06,865 --> 01:00:10,325
Um, it, it sort of had, uh, parameters

1248
01:00:10,345 --> 01:00:12,085
for like how the voy should work.

1249
01:00:12,545 --> 01:00:14,805
Um, but using that model, we are able

1250
01:00:14,805 --> 01:00:18,445
to correctly predict
the, uh, a, a key feature

1251
01:00:18,445 --> 01:00:20,525
of the velocity field
in the local universe

1252
01:00:20,525 --> 01:00:22,205
that was subsequently measured last year.

1253
01:00:22,425 --> 01:00:24,325
And that's a so-called bulk flow curve.

1254
01:00:24,985 --> 01:00:28,845
Um, so there, there's,
uh, definitely, and,

1255
01:00:28,845 --> 01:00:31,125
and I should say the bulk
flows are also much faster than

1256
01:00:31,325 --> 01:00:33,125
expected in the standard
cosmological model.

1257
01:00:33,545 --> 01:00:35,685
So, uh, there's definitely a high chance

1258
01:00:35,705 --> 01:00:38,005
of some modifications to Lambda CDM.

1259
01:00:38,105 --> 01:00:40,605
Um, I, I don't want people to
think that it's sort of going

1260
01:00:40,825 --> 01:00:42,245
to, to work, uh,

1261
01:00:42,335 --> 01:00:45,405
completely without any
further modifications.

1262
01:00:46,025 --> 01:00:47,045
Um, that's,

1263
01:00:47,045 --> 01:00:49,925
that's not really possible
given the current evidence.

1264
01:00:50,425 --> 01:00:55,205
Um, but um, that doesn't
mean uh, that the, um,

1265
01:00:55,945 --> 01:00:59,045
modern field equations
provide a viable alternative.

1266
01:00:59,745 --> 01:01:01,655
- Let's have one final thought from Stacy.

1267
01:01:02,195 --> 01:01:04,655
- We do not understand
how the universe works.

1268
01:01:05,195 --> 01:01:06,375
We think we do,

1269
01:01:07,235 --> 01:01:09,975
but neither we, we don't
know what the dark matter is.

1270
01:01:10,035 --> 01:01:11,135
We just know we need it.

1271
01:01:11,915 --> 01:01:15,815
Um, and we don't really
understand how mon can be true

1272
01:01:15,875 --> 01:01:19,615
as a theory, and I think that's
a wonderful thing, right?

1273
01:01:19,645 --> 01:01:23,775
There's still fundamental
physics to be learned about

1274
01:01:23,795 --> 01:01:24,895
how the universe works,

1275
01:01:25,355 --> 01:01:28,535
and so, um, it's not like science is over.

1276
01:01:28,645 --> 01:01:31,575
It's not like we're filling
in the last few decimal points

1277
01:01:31,755 --> 01:01:32,855
of, of everything.

1278
01:01:33,245 --> 01:01:36,015
There's fundamental issues
here still to be addressed,

1279
01:01:36,115 --> 01:01:38,815
and so that's a good thing.
We're, we're not done

1280
01:01:38,815 --> 01:01:39,815
- Here.

1281
01:01:39,815 --> 01:01:41,855
I'd like to thank Stacy and
Idra nil for talking to me

1282
01:01:41,855 --> 01:01:43,815
for this episode of the
Physics World Stories Podcast.

1283
01:01:44,155 --> 01:01:45,255
And if you'd like to know more,

1284
01:01:45,375 --> 01:01:48,095
I can highly recommend
Keith Cooper's feature on

1285
01:01:48,095 --> 01:01:49,215
the physics world website.

1286
01:01:49,355 --> 01:01:51,975
It is, of course, the first of three,

1287
01:01:52,365 --> 01:01:54,215
this one entitled Cosmic Combat,

1288
01:01:54,605 --> 01:01:56,815
delving into the Battle
Between Dark Matter

1289
01:01:56,995 --> 01:01:58,055
and Modified Gravity.

1290
01:01:58,435 --> 01:01:59,495
The Second Coming.

1291
01:01:59,565 --> 01:02:03,055
Soon we'll explore some of
Dark Matter's, recent successes

1292
01:02:03,235 --> 01:02:06,175
and the serious challenges
that it's also facing.

1293
01:02:06,705 --> 01:02:08,135
Thank you very much for listening,

1294
01:02:08,155 --> 01:02:09,255
and we'll be back next month

1295
01:02:09,325 --> 01:02:12,175
with something else from this
wonderful world of physics,

1296
01:02:16,605 --> 01:02:17,735
physics world.

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