dark matter, dark energy and now, dark flow
Add another bizarre, universe-defining darkness to your list.
For anyone keeping an eye on cosmology and wondering when we find another dark something or other, scientists would like to introduce you to the dark flow. And this is no ordinary dark something keeping galaxies together or ripping the universe apart. This strange flow carrying galactic clusters apparently cuts through all of our visible cosmos, beginning outside the bubble of galaxies we know and love, and ending far beyond it.
A few questions come to mind. If there are massive superstructures outside what we know as our visible universe, could they explain many of the other odd movements we're still trying to attribute to the so-called dark energy which is supposed to make up most of the cosmos?
And if there are things out there big enough to casually yank clusters of galaxies around, wouldn't they be more than powerful enough to exert influence on everything else and if they do, does this alter the prediction that the universe will just slowly fall apart and die off?
If there are things out there able to interact with the galaxies we know, couldn't they have a profound effect on the rest of the known universe over billions and billions of years and introduce new components into the theoretical mix?
