The object at the core of the Milky Way might not be a black hole at all, scientists say

MSN.com (via Futurism) ^ | 15 February 2026 | Frank Landymore

[zeestephen]

The traditional understanding is that the center of our galaxy is dominated by a supermassive black hole...Instead of a black hole, there could be...a colossal clump of dark matter, the substance thought to account for 85 percent of all mass in the cosmos.

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TOPICS: Astronomy; Chit/Chat; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; blackhole; darkenergy; darkforce; darkhole; darkmatter; neutrinos; physics; science; speedofdark; stringtheory; whatdoesitmatter

[nesnah]

Hmmm, so the science isn’t settled?

[bennowens]

The dark matter is between their ears!

[Larry Lucido]

Now I want a Tootsie Pop.

[oldplayer]

“Finally this is being admitted.”
____________________________________

The discussion of this notion of ‘dark matter’ and its many possible influences is not new. My university Astronomy 1 class played with these concepts. That was in 1969.

These new ideas and observations are important. (If, at any rate, you actually consider astronomical research important.)

[AZJeep]

According to the present state of science, almost all universe (except for about 5%) is made 50-50 by dark matter and dark energy.
Things we really have no idea what they are!
In summary, scientists basically know nothing!
Honest scientists will admit that, but there is the minority of know everything pseudoscientists who are giving science a very bad name!

[Skwor]

I agree they are not new. What I am saying is this was not presented in places such as high schools and to the general public, instead the science community kept pushing known discredited theories with way more credibility than they ever should have. Take for example the overuse of “Scientific Consensus.”

Science needs to get back to being ok admitting it “doesn’t know” a lot of stuff and stop presenting theories and consensus as unchallengeable by the common man.

[JimRed]

...a colossal clump of dark matter, the substance thought to account for 85 percent of all mass in the cosmos.

"Thought to" are the key words, an admission that they don't know what they're talking about.

[Lake Living]

They just don’t want to admit it’s Donald Trump 😅

[circlecity]

Dark matter was concocted to explain why galaxies hold together rather than just spinning apart into space. Dark energy was concocted to explain why the universe doesn’t collapse on itself, all to offset the supposed effect of all the dark matter. Or perhaps there is something wrong with the standard cosmological models.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

😀

[bobbo666]

No, no, different guys. These are physicists, not make believe divas who call themselves meteorologists.

Yes, I loathe met... I live in Frisco bay. The wind is always from the west, coming from across 3000+ miles of flat water. Yet, the boneheads calling themselves met.., environmentalists, climate scientists (whatever) can’t predict rain further than 24 hours. Their models insist on partly cloudy even when it is pouring in my backyard.
Blithering morons.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

The question, as always, is if there are nuts and if so what kind.

I am going to vote for cashews.

[Jonty30]

IMO, to be honest, there is probably a lot of matter that failed to form anything. I think that is all dark matter is.

[Sirius Lee]

Creamy Noughgat, you animal! Geez!

[SunkenCiv]

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[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Dark matter. We can't see it. We can't detect it. But dammit...we KNOW it's there! Our made up equations say so!

</sarcasm>

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

“This Dark Matter don’t go to Aintree!”

[Nateman]

All sorts of experiments have failed to find any sign of Dark Matter. Although neutrinos don’t have much rest mass the Universe has been cranking out massive amounts of them. Once made they are almost impossible to change into anything else. My theory is something slows them down and they eventually go into orbits just like ordinary matter.

[The Louiswu]

At The Core. 1966 by Larry Niven
Beowulf Shaeffer, who is hired by the Piersons Puppeteers to pilot the experimental ship Long Shot on a promotional stunt to the galactic core. The Long Shot uses a Quantum II hyperdrive capable of traveling 48 light-years per hour, vastly faster than standard drives.

Shaeffer’s journey is grueling, requiring constant vigilance to avoid stars while in hyperspace. After three months, he reaches the galactic core and discovers it is not a stable region but a site of a catastrophic chain reaction of supernovae. The radiation wave from this explosion will reach Known Space in approximately 20,000 years.

[xp38]