Strikes me as complete humbug.
What long range observations can confirm is the existence of phenomena of the sort some physicists posit “dark energy” as a means of explaining, and, perhaps, the amount of “dark energy” such an explanation would require.
The problem is “dark energy” and “dark matter” are kludges, attempts to fix the failure of string theory on a background of general relativity to explain much of anything we actually observe and its ablity to explain lots of things we don’t observe. A correct theory of quantum gravity (or rather a correct theory of physics as a whole including gravity at the Plank scale) might well not need either “dark energy” or “dark matter” to explain the errant observations, as the aggregate effect of quantum corrections might well explain them.
It is typical for folks in the sciences to create a new element so that they can “balance the equation.”
That presumes that the equation (and theory) wasn’t flawed in the first place.
TRD — I admire someone who can talk sense, forth-rightly and without weasel-wording.
As an observer — I’m an engineer, NOT a physicist / cosmologist / etc. — I have been simply amazed for some time at the reckless proliferation of particles, fields, dimensions, universes, dark matter/energy, ad infinitum, to ‘fix’ the unfixable inconsistencies, contradictions, inadequacies and general ‘incompleteness’ of all the competing ‘theories’ about what makes the Universe ‘exist’ as it appears to be content to be.
I am quite aware that we have only been at this effort for ‘only’ about 500 years or so ( compared to a generally accepted 15 Billion or so years that the Universe has been at whatever IT is doing ) and that ‘only’ a few tens of thousands of humanity have contributed meaningfully to this program of discovery.
What boggles MY mind is the finality with which it is stated that, f’rinstance, “74% of the Universe is comprised of so-called ‘dark matter’ and 22% is comprised or ‘dark energy’. That leaves only 4% or so for all the non-dark energy / matter ‘stuff’ — you know, stars, planets, galaxies, particles of matter and the various photons, neutrinos, and so forth. Did I leave out anything important ?
Of course, we cannot detect, capture, measure or even describe any of this ‘dark stuff’ in any meaningful way ... “. But, of course, we CAN state authoritatively that this ‘dark stuff’ finding somehow confirms Einstein’s General Relativity ( if you treat it as the cosmological constant he used and subsequently abandoned ). Further, it gives us a handle on reconciling Einstein and ‘strings’ and QCD and all the other unreconcilables. Ain’t THAT ‘grand’ ?
Want proof ? Why, we just surveyed 200,000 Galaxies and measured their “baryon acoustic oscillations” with such precision that we UNDERSTAND — Totally ! — why they’re distributed about as they are. We even observed and measured just how quickly these 200,000 Galaxies formed over the past 15 Billion years. Spent nearly 5 years doin’ it, too ! Now, how’s that for commitment, dedication, engagement and stick-to-itiveness ?
And you want Authority ? We even got our results published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Peer reviewed and what all else you want ?
It is arrogant beyond all understanding how this kind of thing can be stated or viewed as anything BUT the wispiest speculation, conjecture, hypothesis or something else equally unreal.
It ain’t facts, yet, not even close. It ain’t even any kind of ‘theory’, yet, until someone comes along with a useful way to ‘falsify’ it and that gets tested, repeatably.
One Man’s Opinion
21stCenturion