Katie MackMar 3, 2023

‘The most common response I get when I talk about dark matter is: “isn’t this just something physicists made up to make the math work out?”
The answer to that might surprise you: yes! In fact, everything in physics is made up to make the math work out.’

My latest for BBC Science Focus:

https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/everything-physics-made-up/

Yes, everything in physics is completely made up – that’s the whole point

A physicist's task is to constantly create equations that keep up with our observations of physical phenomena.

BBC Science Focus Magazine
Show threadsimonbp

@AstroKatie I feel like planetary rings are both the proof and exception to that. Every time we think we understand rings, we discover something else that throws most of previous theories out the window.

E.g. Quaoar

Mar 3, 2023 at 11:15pmWeb