Michio Kaku: What Is Dark Matter? | Big Think

Michio Kaku: What Is Dark Matter?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today, Dr. Kaku addresses a question posed by David Hernandez: If subatomic particles can be in two or more places at once, could parts of us be travelling back and forth between parallel universes and could these particles be dark matter?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MICHIO KAKU:

Dr. Michio Kaku is the co-founder of string field theory, and is one of the most widely recognized scientists in the world today. He has written 4 New York Times Best Sellers, is the science correspondent for CBS This Morning and has hosted numerous science specials for BBC-TV, the Discovery/Science Channel. His radio show broadcasts to 100 radio stations every week. Dr. Kaku holds the Henry Semat Chair and Professorship in theoretical physics at the City College of New York (CUNY), where he has taught for over 25 years. He has also been a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, as well as New York University (NYU).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABOUT BIG THINK:

Smarter Faster™
Big Think is the leading source of expert-driven, actionable, educational content -- with thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, we help you get smarter, faster. Subscribe to learn from top minds like these daily. Get actionable lessons from the world’s greatest thinkers & doers. Our experts are either disrupting or leading their respective fields. ​We aim to help you explore the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century, so you can apply them to the questions and challenges in your own life.

Other Frequent contributors include Michio Kaku & Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

Join Big Think Edge, to gain access to a world-class learning platform focused on building the soft skills essential to 21st century success. It features insight from many of the most celebrated and intelligent individuals in the world today. Topics on the platform are focused on: emotional intelligence, digital fluency, health and wellness, critical thinking, creativity, communication, career development, lifelong learning, management, problem solving & self-motivation.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow Big Think here:

[frasercain]

They're two completely different things, which were giving similar names, unfortunately. Dark matter is this hidden mass surrounding galaxies, while dark energy is this pressure that's expanding the Universe. Around galaxies, dark matter can hold itself together with gravity, but at big distances, dark energy takes over and pushes galaxies apart.

[captainobvious]

#DarkLivesMatter.... whoops sorry. #DarkMatterLives

[kathypetty]

You explain things so well, your a awesome teacher.

[confess]

This man needs to serve as the epitome of a great scientist to a majority of science profs or high school teacher. If all teachers had his zeal, students will no longer say science is a "mundane" or "boring subject"

[jessesawyer]

its "funny" that they use the language of music to explain these things. like octave and so forth.  I also find it funny that they say there are 11 mathematically stable dimensions and that there are 11 chromatic pitches between two octaves (not including the octaves) in music.  once you travel 11 chromatic steps, the notes repeat maybe we're just music

[CaptainCorrosion]

Dark matter is simply a region of space where are more pairs of virtual particles that are popping in and out of existence in such a short time period that its not possible to detect them. Also, no energy is absorbed or emitted in the process (similarly to the universe being a free lunch theory) so conventional radiation detectors for various wavelengths wont work either. These briefly existing virtual particles however do have mass and for a brief moment they create a gravitational field that expands outwards at the speed of light. Since there are countless miniature gravitational waves coming from a certain region of space however it may be impossible to detect them (unless the waves were synchronized for some reason). Nobel prize here i come xD

[Demondragon]

This guy is awesome I'm reading his book "physics of the impossible" :D

[happyhugs]

Solved it - Dark matter is simply a matter of opinion ;)

[MrOctober]

I have looked for a place to place an idea. Scientists are trying to find dark matter.  It can't be seen, does not stop or reflect light but, does interact with normal matter. Gravity does the same mostly. Instead of using light, create a machine that sees gravity and you'll be able to see dark matter.

[GunRunnerWV]

I love this guy. He makes really hard topics sound easy, while my friggin Bio teacher can't explain the propertys of water without making it sound like a foreign language

[universiannomad]

that noble prize is going to be mine!!!

[staypositivepositive]

I have to admit that I have physics, but somehow I love the way he represent physics. I watched his videos continuously.

[Gtemplar]

i like how Dr.Kaku always tries to motivate people to search for this stuff, he's rlly trying to inspire the younger generation. :)

[Jason-gtkx]

My hypothesis that Dark Matter is not a weakly interactive massive particle (WIMP), but maybe is a deformation of space-time by which the curvature of space-time itself is the cause of the gravitational effect. Gravity is the consequence of the curvature of space-time when mass is present. It may be possible that the structure of space-time itself could be warped without the presence of mass. So, how did this warping occur? We believe this warping of space-time occurred during the extreme conditions present during inflation. Space-time has been shown to react like a fabric by warping, twisting, and propagating independent of mass. These properties have been proven with observations of gravitational lensing, frame dragging, and now gravitational waves. Fabrics can be stretched, pressured, and/or heated to the point of deformation. Such extreme conditions were all present during inflation, so it is plausible that space-time’s elastic nature could have hit its yield point and permanently deformed. Therefore, if gravity is the consequence of the warping of space-time, and fabrics can be permanently deformed, then a deformation could create a gravitational effect independent of mass. Thus, the unidentified dark "matter" that seems to be so elusive to modern science may not be matter at all but merely warped deformities causing gravitational effects. We have a prediction using gravitational lens mapping to prove Dark Matter isn’t a weakly interacting massive particle, but instead is a floating fixed pocket of warped geodesics in space-time geometry causing gravity wells.

[abanjoplayer]

I love the fact that sensible, scientific and logical theories take precedence over religious theories on these sorts of videos, it's very rare to see this sort of thing

[stormshred]

My theory is based off of this one: As above us will be dark matter, below must be an even more real-deal "matter". They see us as dark matter from their perspective as we see above us. And what is dark matter from our perspective is unimaginable to them. And this is an endless cycle of layers that could last for eternity, or could have a limited amount of these layers. This is my theory and I will call it "The Layers Of Matter". This is what I believe about it, and I hope it inspired you in any way!

[capefear]

Ingenious! This is actually completely consistent with what physicists define the fourth dimension (time) as being composed of. A long, continuous tunnel of events appearing frame-by-frame at a density comparable on a nanoscopic level. Put the universe as a whole to that definition, and you have a long stream of universes from different times standing side-by-side.

[themacocko]

Dark matter comes from dark chocolate.

[buoyantturtle]

The answer to the title's question is "I'm not sure".
Yet I learned so much while he explained that answer.

[HellaPerformance]

A lot of us don't man, but in order to understand something, you first have to hear it. Just keep your interest in the subject and you'll have more knowledge (and even MORE questions) than you could ever imagine.