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Dark Matter is to the 20th and 21st century what Ether was to the 16th and 17th.

I think it's more like phlogiston--a colorless, odorless, invisible, indetectable substance that has whatever attributes are needed to explain the observations.

The observations show that the structure and rotation of galaxies do not fit our theories of gravity. Our theories of gravity also cannot be reconciled with the successful theory of quantum mechanics.

Heaven forbid that the theory of gravity should be re-examined. It's lots easier to think up fudge factors that would save the existing theory.

Two favorite kinds of dark matter are MACHOS (Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects) and WIMPS (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles). I don't see how this new evidence can be reconciled with these theories. The inferred particles are way too small to be massive WIMPS, and the direction of the signal rules out the MACHO idea of invisible clumps of stuff orbiting the galaxy.

Even though we know less about gravity than any other force in the universe, people who question the standard theory are dismissed as crackpots, while those who propose ever more intricate imaginary structures and epicycles are considered the front edge of the field.

Even though we know less about gravity than any other force in the universe, people who question the standard theory are dismissed as crackpots, while those who propose ever more intricate imaginary structures and epicycles are considered the front edge of the field.

Actually, it's been pretty much known since it first came into being that the Standard Model is still an incomplete picture; the O'Raifeartaigh and Coleman-Madula Theorems demonstrated this in the late sixties and early seventies. It has, however, been extraordinarily successful at what it has been able to predict and explain, and supersymmetry and superstring theory have tried to accommodate it while explaining what has had trouble accounting for. I would highly recommend reading Gordon Parks's recent article on the Standard Model which appeared in Scientific American a while back, as well as his book Supersymmetry.

The Higgs Boson is my candidate for the ether of the 21st Century. If we find it, it will confirm the supersymmetry model. If it doesn't, it will force us to reconceive our picture of the universe drastically. Either way, the Standard Model will likely remain firmly in place, just as relativity and the null results of the Michelson-Morley experiment did not invalidate Maxwell's equations.

I agree, While I accept there could be many "Jupiters" out there screwing with the calculations, This notion that there is invisable matter that isn't on the periodic table that can be fitted to fix any discrepancy or unknown sounds like a cop out to me. I don't know how they get away with it, If a scientist in any other branch of science came up with a crazy excuse like Dark matter for their unexplained Phenomena they would be crucified

Same thing with the Hubble Constant,

And don't even get me started on the Asteroid that supposedly killed off the Dinosaurs" nonsense