The universe’s biggest mystery

Dark matter and dark energy dominate our universe. They’re both highly mysterious, invisible and difficult to detect. So what are they, and how do we know they even exist?
00:00 - What is the universe made of?
01:53 - What is dark matter?
05:32 - What is dark energy?
08:54 - The future of the universe
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How astronomers know “dark matter” exists: econ.st/3Za8Pu3
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Did dark matter do in the dinosaurs? econ.st/3jCkl0M
The latest news from Mars: econ.st/3vAeMCU
The world’s most pointless rocket was launched: econ.st/3vxEFmD
NASA’s planetary defence test worked 25 times better than hoped: econ.st/3vvzow9

[@rizo696]

“Metaphors for ignorance” - my favourite explanation of Dark matter and dark energy

[@Biga101011]

Einstein: That was my greatest blunder. Everyone Else: Oh that's ok. Everyone is wrong sometimes. Einstein: Haha. I wasn't wrong. I just didn't understand why I was right.

[@shabbapaul9983]

And he got to bang Marilyn Monroe the old dog 🐕

[@anushri3257]

This is why I love the Economist. This might be the first time I've seen dark matter/energy covered with an immediate mention of the fact that the names 'dark matter' and 'dark energy' are just place holders and do not refer to any matter/energy of confirmed nature. This is something I see lacking in almost every popular science coverage of the topics. Make me very happy!

[@kylescoolclips]

This tbh

[@bsame]

Tell me you haven't watched any of the videos on dark matter without telling me you haven't watched a video on dark matter before. Almost everyone worth their salt talks about how dark matter is unquantifiable and unknown as of yet.

[@SubvertTheState]

@@bsame maybe some people just don't hoard salt. But it would help if they were named something admitting their undiscovered status. The matter anomoly and energy anonoly perhaps. But ofcourse these days scientific authorities have alot of problems with admitting ignorance about anything.

[@ACTHdan]

@@bsamewow you’re really bothered by this. Hope you’re ok

[@stevefromsaskatoon830]

@@bsame ikr 🤦‍♂️

[@brynmakumbe9957]

The idea of looking for matter which is invisible by its effects such as gravitational pull is wonderful. However as a civilization, I feel we are still far from our Eureka moment.

[@HTHT2024.]

Space and the associated science has always fascinated me. Thanks for this interesting video

[@danielrahilly91]

Who would of ever thought? So very informative! will definitely sub

[@akramalshuhary2640]

I have been recently subscribed to this channel, and I have liked watching most the videos that have valuable knowledge.

[@l.p8458]

Oh! My mind will continue to expand because of this series about the universe. Wow thanks for this wonderful and educational and material. I've learned so much

[@JayPatel-yg3nn]

This is wonderful video and I enjoyed every part of it

[@anayablanchard413]

I can't believe how amazing and so educational for everyone

[@williamnoble2050]

Very knowledgeable clip and very easy to stay focused very well done

[@orangedark]

This is a fantastic video!

[@s1nb4d59]

Enjoyed this report,nice you tube team.

[@aziguabudula5985]

I love science and this video teaches me a lot!

[@nerinavshrestha3338]

Thankyou Economist for a wonderful documentary. Please remain freely available for all, forever.

[@Kopern1k990]

Great animation!

[@goproliveshow4386]

I love your video and all your content brother, I hope to see new videos soon

[@australiageography9865]

I found this channel randomly; it is really a channel that produces quality content

[@bsame]

no it does not

[@sense_storiess]

@@bsame then why you here bro?👀

[@Bulgarian021]

That is amazing, very nice video, :)

[@nayak232]

Ha! I love the cricket reference 6:31

[@danielparsons2859]

What movie is that scene @5:24 from?

[@williamrobertson6380]

A lot of folks have been going on about a January rally and said stocks that would be experiencing significant growth these new year season, any idea which stocks this may be? I just sold my home in the Boca Grande area and I’m looking to remunerate a lump sum into the stock market before stocks rebound

[@bondyjoseph5171]

Yes, transportation, e-commerce among other sectors are expected to experience growth, but who knows, the market has been a basket of surprises.

[@gregorytreadway1388]

@janetburch5789 I’m delighted to engage in this opportunity, I just found the professional’s web page and have already written her.

[@shmookins]

"Europe's gravitational wave detector is expected to launch in 2037". The craft is called LISA. It's the successor to the test one called LISA Pathfinder that already launched in 2015. I cannot wait for the age of gravitational wave detectors in space.

[@blijebij]

Same! In time it probably will have a very interesting impact on new data. Specially with help of AI.

[@TheAtual]

What about modified gravity theories such as modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND), AQUAL, QUMOND, external field effect, f(R) gravity on rotation curves?

[@sankhakarunaratne9697]

That looked more like a run out

[@mbarbe007]

The only thing that I didn’t like about this video is, that it didn’t last much longer!!! Amazing as always The Economist Science!!!

[@e.e.surina4373]

Thank you from MY5

[@gmshadowtraders]

Again it looks like the Economist is the only publication able to fully grasp and appreciate Physics. Economics as a discipline is the greatest gift on earth!

[@PlanetXMysteries-pj9nm]

our channel has opened my eyes to the endless possibilities of space exploration. I'm grateful for the valuable insights you provide us with.

[@princejha4326]

Alok Jha, my favorite reporter from Economists

[@DigitalCashFlow]

Scary 😨

[@demicdah]

Is this the voice of Babbage?

[@murraymadness4674]

We use redshift of light to determine the universe is expanding. But that could be wrong, light could be losing energy by passing through space, so the farther something is away the more energy the light uses and redshifts. That is a lot more consistent with known physics than dark energy theory.

[@SubvertTheState]

I remember in 2nd grade getting books from the library about the cosmos. "The Big Crunch" was still on the table, we humans have a hard time accepting that cycles of expansion and contraction might not be our fate and cosmic inflation, slowing, and then an exponentially increasing expansion of the void leading to the Heat Death of the universe....Doesn't sound acceptable haha. Kind of unsettling to not know what is leading our universe into an endless void of nothing where virtual particles are separated by billions of light years.

[@AbhaySingh-ud5og]

That was more of a run out then stumped!

[@mujinaumemiya3130]

Construction of knowledge for understanding of being can be done in top down or from the bottom up. Science is top down approach, in which new findings are interpreted to fit the existing knowledge, and missing bits are filled with imagination. In the bottom up approach, the starter of knowledge construction is a theory, then new findings are added to strengthen the starter through logical extension without imagination. In the bottom up approach, there are 3 basic unites of matters, neutron, proton and electron, and 2 forces, gravitational force and electromagnetic force. There are flowing in ether, the mediator of the forces. As long as the starter fit the observation, it stays. However, if it fails to explain new finding, it need to be revisited. In the sense, there is uneven distribution of energy in the ether, and dark matters represtnt low energy area.

[@sdavis9191]

Measuring dark matter/energy with mass-energy, is like using a yard stick to measure a yard stick, with several inches of that stick having disappeared, or gone "dark." The mystery will not be solved until an experiment can be conducted that allows light wavelengths to be measured using spacetime as the measuring stick. Such an experiment would use equipment that doesn't yet exist, to measure light as it passes through a gravitational lens. Only then will we be able to determine the relationship between spacetime and energy-mass. Until then-- we'll have to put up with this dark-mumbo-jumbo.

[@brandonhardin2609]

It's still a mystery cause you want necessarily know

[@hosseinn6]

This is beyond The mystery, sometimes watching ancient world and tecks is like the future

[@regisnyder]

The universe ripped apart! 😬

[@franko2886]

And it all came about by chance .. like us too. Hard to believe the more that is discovered.

[@stevefromsaskatoon830]

I've never heard of this "theory of chance" you speak of .... can you list some respected scientists that speak of this "theory of chance" ?

[@kirti1328]

It wasn't by chance. he tried to give the equation of static universe. Then Friedman corrected the equation which actually showed the acceleration of universe.

[@shawns0762]

There is an elephant in the room explanation for those abnormally high star rotation rates. For some reason people don't know that Einstein said that singularities are not possible. In the 1939 journal "Annals of Mathematics" he wrote "the essential result of this investigation is a clear understanding as to why the Schwarzchild singularities (Schwarzchild was the first to raise the issue of General relativity predicting singularities) do not exist in physical reality. Although the theory given here treats only clusters whose particles move along circular paths it does seem to be subject to reasonable doubt that more general cases will have analogous results. The Schwarzchild singularities do not appear for the reason that matter cannot be concentrated arbitrary. And this is due to the fact that otherwise the constituting particles would reach the velocity of light." Einstein was referring to the phenomenon of dilation (sometimes called gamma or y). This is illustrated in a common relativity graph with velocity (from stationary to the speed of light) on the horizontal line and dilation on the vertical line. This shows the squared nature of the phenomenon, dilation increases at an exponential rate the closer you get to the speed of light. Mass that is dilated is smeared through spacetime relative to an outside observer. Wherever you have an astronomical quantity of mass, dilation will occur because high mass means high momentum. There is no place in the universe where mass is more concentrated than at the center of a galaxy. General relativity does not predict singularities when you factor in dilation. Einstein is known to have repeatedly spoken about this. Nobody believed in black holes when he was alive for this reason. According to Einstein's math, the mass at the center of our own galaxy must be dilated, in other words that mass is all around us. According to Einstein's math, galaxies with very low mass will show no signs of "dark matter" because they do not have enough mass at the center to achieve relativistic velocities, therefore they are not infused with dilated mass. This has been confirmed with the galaxy NGC 1052-DF2.

[@shawns0762]

It's important to note that black holes where popularized by the media mostly in the 1960's and belief in them gradually came to be despite the fact that Einstein said that they cannot exist and there was no evidence. A simple way to confirm that dilation/gamma/y is the governing phenomenon in galactic centers would be to calculate the star rotation rates of a large number of galaxies. This would show that all the high mass galaxies would have star rotation rates that defy the known laws of physics and all the low mass galaxies would have predictable star rotation rates. According to Einstein's math, only galaxies with very, very low mass would show no signs of dark matter. Some galaxies can appear to be low mass but can have high mass at the center.

[@DishaMalik751]

We should put all scientist into research of dark matter & dark energy to find out mystery 😄

[@sshray1115]

⭐⭐🌟⭐⭐ 5:09 That's a surprise luminous lady who popped into dark matter discussion. She's is cute😉.

[@Randall2023]

Dauphin River First Nation Manitoba Canada 🇨🇦

[@clarestucki5151]

It appears to me that those things actually consist of dark CHOCOLATE!!

[@shabbapaul9983]

So, a brief explanation of the substance and make up of our universe. Only, it didn’t explain anything, just that scientists don’t really know what’s out there. I think we should investigate the metaphysical aspects of dark matter and energy as well. The Improbability of life ever occurring on our earth is so great and the sudden increase in brain size and reasoning still unexplained. John Carpenter, once again was a visionary with this concept in his film Prince of darkness. Very thought provoking and well scary too 😊

[@boburzod]

What if we are living in a cell of giant organism and calling it a universe?

[@djp1234]

How do they know how fast a galaxy is spinning? It takes millions of years for it to make 1 rotation.

[@yahyarahman1254]

have u not heard of extrapolation

[@evilbred974]

If you were standing in the road and saw a car driving towards you, would you move? Why?

[@jamdrensefrenzy]

😂😂😂

[@djp1234]

@@yahyarahman1254 what are you extrapolating from if you can't observe any rotation?

[@XxAngelWinsxX]

Call me dumb but the way I understood was that galaxies and clusters of galaxies were going away from each other simply due to inertia from the very beginning, the Big Bang. Since there is no friction in space, anything that gets an initial momentum would keep going forever until it collides with something else, like an astronaut in space that is pushed in one direction and keeps going until a belt strapped in his suit stops him. Only it's impossible to measure the speed at which a whole galaxy is going further away from others, due to the scale.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

It is understandable why galaxies are moving away from each other because of inertia, but why is that movement accelerating? At least that is what current observations claim.

[@channelnoorislamtv1348]

Hi new friend

[@anjalE30]

Dark energy creates dark matter In simple words....dark matter is PAIN

[@bensaysthis]

Its like a conscious code like a natural law of the universe. I think this is what star wars is reffering to as the force.

[@rick-yo]

I’m still trying to figure out where all my money is going, do I really need to think about where the universe is going? Haha.

[@paulbunyan9436]

The elusive nature of dark matter and dark energy complicates our search for a unifying theory of everything. Cosmic expansion after the big bang, the multiverse, quantum reality and the true nature of time may never be fully understood.

[@agustinvelasquez239]

In the beginning there was darkness and chaos

[@toffee_ss]

Everything is energy. There is no matter.

[@rursus8354]

Wrong. All energy has mass. Some energy is bound into fermionic particles, which is ... matter.

[@SquizzMe]

They're effectively the same thing. We just perceive them differently, but to the universe they're the same.

[@sulIy]

@@SquizzMe enlightened

[@bbharim]

You don't matter.

[@ArtDocHound]

What do you reckon?

[@michaelfabian6034]

Space! The final frontier. These are the voyages of the star ship enterprise.

[@justliberty4072]

I felt strangely attracted to this video by some tendency I just can't see or understand.

[@yayasanpurigading3252]

Dark energy and spirit have one in common, undetected but their action is clearly visible. Are dark energy is proof existing of spirit and angles like says in holy book? 95% dark matter and dark energy is huge, indicating science just understand very small portion of reality, to understand broader we need faith. Man that has knowledge of science and faithful is brighter man because he see universe in wider perspective..

[@GM-ub8qy]

Imagine the universe expanding into a needle

[@wisdomhappy587]

We need to better understand the properties of light

[@griesTheGries]

its electromatic radiation...a small part of the electromatic spectrum.......our eyes are sensitive to those wavelengths....

[@wisdomhappy587]

@@griesTheGries When I say light I mean all of it.

[@raginald7mars408]

... as a German Biologist - those who "Ex Plain" sure never know anything ever to be honest: I can not ex plain anything and when I try you sure do not understand anything as I do not either

[@sakolponpojna]

Object, gravity and zero Gravity are about everything in space

[@sandman3536]

Do humans have dark matter or dark energy in them?

[@techcafe0]

maybe we humans are the 'dark energy' ripping the universe apart 🤔

[@dd6943]

space all: dark matter+dark energy

[@barrettabney]

When scientists discover something, they can't explain and are completely ignorant about, they give it nifty names. Even if those somethings are described in books from thousands of years ago. What if they are trying to explain Spiritual energy? What if the 3rd part of man, points toward what is going on all around us? Mind, Body, & Spirit. And the Spirit is what is holding everything together. And when He decides it is time to end time, then He releases everything from existence. Leaving only the spirit realm behind.

[@runnerup5107]

I always think the first day of the universe before the what material is exist.

[@bin.s.s.]

Einstein's biggest blunder: a cosmological constant to prevent his universe model from accelerating expanding, which proves to be caused by dark energy 7:40

[@bin.s.s.]

But when it proves he was probably right again, abandoning the cosmological constant may be another blunder of Einstein that is bigger than his biggest.

[@clandeszipp4564]

CHADS keep universe together.

[@barnabaskral]

or SIMPS as one of the suspects haha

[@SquizzMe]

It's so hilarious how scientists are surprised, and even outraged, at the thought that the full extent of the universe isn't completely perceivable or comprehensible by humans. As if the universe is somehow obligated to conveniently funnel itself down to human perception and understanding. We are such limited creatures, I suspect most of the universe will never generate human-detectable evidence and will remain forever out of reach for us.

[@adrs8235]

@plato

[@stevefromsaskatoon830]

There's a difference between what you think scientists are surprised by and what actually surprises them.

[@rollin60z]

You have such a limited, boxed-in mind..

[@SquizzMe]

@@rollin60z everybody's mind is limited. You're not the 'enlightened free thinker ' you think you are

[@SquizzMe]

@@stevefromsaskatoon830 that's why I didn't base my comment on what I thought 😕

[@arunavadasgupta2147]

My most interesting Planet Is Black holes

[@hstone39]

Dark matter is very simple. The universe is a room and everything in it is like furniture and lights. The universe is an constant expanding room. Dark matter is everywhere, even here on Earth. It's the same thing as having a room in your house without windows with the door closed and the lights out. What do you see? It's dark matter. Dark matter is the empty-ness of light inside the universal room. Dark matter is necessary for other stars and planets to be discovered. I hope it makes sense.

[@charlesbrightman4237]

Dark Energy: ROFLMAO: a. What makes energy 'dark'? b. Can people see 'real' energy?

[@griesTheGries]

the Economist explaining dark matter...its still at observation mode...... its just not understood....at all..............gotta love it!!....

[@celiogouvea]

Gravity seems to only act between masses, but it actually radiates in all directions, strengthening the gravitational pull as it accumulates within a galaxy. Although some of the gravity produced by a single mass can escape the galaxy, the rest is confined within it. I hold the belief that mass is fundamental aspect of space-time, leading to the conclusion that the mechanisms behind gravity and inertia must be similar. As the galaxy rotates, gravity either grows to counteract inertia or vice versa. I also believe that because mass is not intrinsic to space-time, properties of space-time must be added to E=mc^2. Gravity, inertia, and spacetime are all interconnected and part of a single structure that has existed since the Big Bang, regardless of the distance between the source of gravity and the mass.

[@mikelance7175]

They could be making it all up 😅

[@slapmyfunkybass]

I’ll save you 10mins, we don’t know

[@DoodlePoodleLol]

Cosmological Constant is not balancing gravity but it is displacing it towards itself, and driving it, hence gravity changes near bigger objects, and cosmological constant effect is lesser on the surface but more in empty space, and it has to do something with time dilation because in space-time fabric the cc is space that is expanding, how can we control this expansion for our own makes it challenging because for now we are bounded by it until we realise its nature in practice.

[@turbofanlover]

How does this affect my Tesla stock?

[@Javier5500]

I would have liked The Economist to explain how and who wants to bring about the cosmological constant, when Einstein himself and the rest of the experimental physicists ruled it out entirely. But The Economist will not say that because they need the cosmological constant for the same reason that Einstein inserted it: an ideological one.

[@fatehyabali]

F

[@MosDefnIT88]

Dark energy is consciousness. That's why we can't see it. It's the reason inert matter somehow created life. Consciousness is the entire point of the universe. Now, whether we're all fragments of one consciousness, or individual consciousness within a greater theme who knows. The universe is clearly perfect mathematically with just 1 variable or degree off, everything else couldnt have made what we see when looking around. Consciousness continues its expansion.

[@MrEscape314]

Einstein thought he was wrong, but he was wrong.

[@primodernious]

there is no dark energy or dark matter or dark trolll and dark bunnies wimps and blimps. there is only electromagnetism. that means electricity and electromagnetic waves as energy to the universe but even electromagnetism seem to be contained in a density so it has to be somthing holding it in place that envelopes the whole universe something that is not matter that is in the quantum realm.

[@glascoebowie9359]

Energy and material technology

[@charlesbrightman4237]

'Space' expanding: Okay: a. What exactly is 'space'? b. How exactly does space expand?

[@ArtDocHound]

Watch more space videos! It's called the Hubble expansion!

[@charlesbrightman4237]

@@ArtDocHound Okay, then surely you and/or they should be able to answer the questions in the opening post.

[@evilbred974]

´Space' is all possible location coordinates within our reality. It expands because all given coordinate points are on average moving away from other points. Space expands more or less uniformly. So it's not the 'edge of the universe' that is expanding into the void, but literally all points in space between two given points are moving away from each other.

[@charlesbrightman4237]

@@evilbred974 a. "´Space' is all possible location coordinates within our reality." But what exactly 'is' "space" made up of? What exactly is 'reality'? How do numbers exist for 'location coordinates' to be able to exist? b. "It expands because all given coordinate points are on average moving away from other points. What exactly is expanding and how? c. "Space expands more or less uniformly." You haven't even discerned what 'space' actually is yet nor how it expands, and yet claim that space expands uniformly??? d. "So it's not the 'edge of the universe' that is expanding into the void" How do you know for 100% certainty? You been out there? e. " but literally all points in space between two given points are moving away from each other." Of which, my view of 'red shift' above would be just as valid and maybe even more so. Especially if this is what space and time actually are: SPACE and TIME: (copy and paste from my files): 'Space' is energy itself. Wherever space is, energy is. Wherever energy is, space is. They are one and the same thing. And for me, the 'gem' photon is the energy unit of this universe that makes up everything in existence in this universe. 'Space' is most probably energy itself in the form of gravitational fields, electrical fields and magnetic fields, varying possibly only in energy modality, energy density and energy frequency. 'Time' is the flow of energy. 'Time' (flow of energy) cannot exist unless 'space' (energy itself) exists. And 'space' (energy itself) that does not flow (no flow of time / energy) is basically useless. An entity cannot even think a thought without a flow of energy. If all the energy in the universe stopped flowing, wouldn't we say that 'time stood still'? Time itself would still exist, it would just not be flowing, (basically 'time' stopped). But then also, how space and time are linked in what is called 'space time', (energy and it's flow). * And everything in existence currently appears to be eternally existent energy interacting with itself. There is truly only 1 single 'eternal day', the day of eternally existent ever flowing energy.

[@bbharim]

Nope. Spacetime is expanding.

[@aaronlim13]

So what was it before the big bang? Just dark, just a light or black hole. What in between the dark matter and light?

[@Jason-gt2kx]

Dark Matter is simply unaccounted for gravity. GR states that gravity is the consequence of the curvature of spacetime. Is it possible that the structure of spacetime itself could be warped without the presence of mass? Spacetime has been shown to react like a fabric by warping, twisting, and propagating independently of mass, and all have been proven with observations from gravitational lensing, frame dragging, and now gravitational waves! Fabrics can be stretched, pressured, and/or heated to the point of causing a deformation and losing its elastic nature. All of these conditions were extreme during inflation, so it is plausible that the “fabric” of spacetime analog could extend having its elastic property have hit a yield point? Therefore, if gravity is strictly the consequence of the warped of spacetime, and fabrics can be permanently overstretched, then those empty warped geodesics would create gravitational wells independent of mass. My hypothesis of DM is subatomic black hole imprints of the quantum fluctuations that popped in at the moment of inflation. The CMB shows where the hot dense regions were they created the galaxies. They would have been the initial cause and location of the warping. These imprints would be clouds of quantum sized floating fixed geodesics, so they couldn’t expand or evaporate. Perhaps nothing has been detected because there is nothing to detect. GR wouldn’t require modification because DM would just be an extension of how spacetime behaves at extreme conditions. No MOND, no WIMPs, and no parallel universes, just empty spacetime deformations that produce gravitational wells to help jump start galaxy accretion processes. Zwicky may have named is Missing Mass correctly since he detected some gravity without mass present to cause it…

[@sitalchautari9101]

Ahh, it’s about the knowledge of cosmic world galaxies, planets, which are mysterious. How scientists try to find new things about Universe.

[@kshird6655]

There is nothing like matter. The color of our sky in day is blue so does it mean that there is blue matter.

[@glascoebowie9359]

Mind over matter and energy what does masters of the universe have to do with creativity.

[@Yo_Kelz]

Whys it gotta be "dark" tho?? lol

[@DwainDwight]

this & black holes & we still don't really understand gravity

[@MrShairocks100]

Is all ok peace ❤😮

[@MrShairocks100]

🎉

[@noelmelbourne8275]

It is a simple matter,i suggest you read Colossians 1 : 16 & 17 For by him all things were created, that are in heaven and that are on earth. Visible and invisibke. In him all things consist! ( Bible )

[@haroonjutt370]

⛪⛪⛪

[@bobhope1139]

Why is the cro-magnon man telling us about the universe

[@zenwisdom4259]

Science for the most part plays catch-up with what's been known for thousands of years. If one looks at the ancient civilizations of India, Egypt, and China will have all the answers as for the universe what we call dark matter or dark energy is explained in the book of Dao De Jing.

[@travelingfamily1859]

It's also in the Quran

[@Waferdicing]

🖤❤️💙💚💚🤎💜💜💕