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   Katie Mack (astrokatie@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 04-Mar-2023 21:30:55 JST Katie Mack

   ‘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/

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     Jack of all trades (jackofalltrades@mas.to)'s status on Saturday, 04-Mar-2023 21:32:53 JST Jack of all trades

     in reply to

     "Fundamentally, the entire point of physics is to create a model universe in math - a set of equations that remain true when we plug in numbers from observations of physical phenomena." - @AstroKatie

     #physics #math

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     Clemens aka data (datacop@literatur.social)'s status on Saturday, 04-Mar-2023 21:33:04 JST Clemens aka data

     in reply to

     @AstroKatie even the math is made up to make the math work out ?

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     Bigsmiffy (bigsmiffy@hachyderm.io)'s status on Saturday, 04-Mar-2023 21:34:14 JST Bigsmiffy

     in reply to

     @AstroKatie

     These same people
     Newton, you just invented this thing called gravity to make the maths fit the observations. But you have no idea what gravity is.

     Newton
     Correct

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     Drew Herzig (drewherzig@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 04-Mar-2023 21:36:19 JST Drew Herzig

     in reply to

     @AstroKatie This is exactly what I want in a brief article - "Here's what we know at this point, and here's what we don't know - and why". Thank you!

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     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Saturday, 04-Mar-2023 21:48:10 JST clacke

     in reply to

     • Tony Fisk
     @arfisk I think you are making the point of @AstroKatie 's article.
     
     The label "dark matter" might be a bad name because it evokes the idea of something like WIMPs. But all dark matter is is a bunch of equations that fit with observations.
     
     There isn't enough detail yet to allow philosophers, much less the general public, to say what dark matter "really is".
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     Tony Fisk (arfisk@aus.social)'s status on Saturday, 04-Mar-2023 21:48:18 JST Tony Fisk

     in reply to

     @AstroKatie In relation to 'dark matter', corroborative evidence that distinguishes WIMPS from MACHOS. However neat the maths that describes them is, I'm unaware of any direct evidence for axions etc.
     Sure, they explain what we observe, but can anything else? (eg normal unseen matter, or MOND)

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     Katie Mack (astrokatie@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 04-Mar-2023 21:48:19 JST Katie Mack

     in reply to

     • Tony Fisk

     @arfisk Not sure what you mean. Back it up with what?

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     Tony Fisk (arfisk@aus.social)'s status on Saturday, 04-Mar-2023 21:48:20 JST Tony Fisk

     in reply to

     @AstroKatie it just gets a little frustrating when there's nothing (yet) to back the math up.

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     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Saturday, 04-Mar-2023 21:50:25 JST clacke

     in reply to

     • shac ron ₪‎
     @shac Physics works the opposite from machine learning as it seeks the simplest and most useful equation possible rather than an incredibly complex black box to throw observations into.
     
     @AstroKatie
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     shac ron ₪‎ (shac@ioc.exchange)'s status on Saturday, 04-Mar-2023 21:50:28 JST shac ron ₪‎

     in reply to

     @AstroKatie So physics is basically very slow machine learning?

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     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Saturday, 04-Mar-2023 21:57:38 JST clacke

     in reply to

     • Colin Rosenthal
     @gorhendad_oldbuck The full context of 'to make the math work out' is 'to make the mathematical models work out with the observations'.
     
     Any sound mathematical model or system obviously works out with itself.
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     Colin Rosenthal (gorhendad_oldbuck@mastodon.scot)'s status on Saturday, 04-Mar-2023 21:57:39 JST Colin Rosenthal

     in reply to

     @AstroKatie I don’t find this a useful way to think about it. The maths always works out, if it’s based on consistent axioms. That’s just as true for incorrect theories as for correct ones. A good theory is explanatory and predictive (and _correctly_ predictive of course). Not all scientific theories are mathematical either (evolution wasn’t, at least initially).

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     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Saturday, 29-Apr-2023 15:16:01 JST clacke

     in reply to

     • Peter
     @petelind Private video. Do you remember what it was about?
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     Peter (petelind@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 29-Apr-2023 15:16:03 JST Peter

     in reply to

     @AstroKatie https://youtu.be/cxnwAJzMjts

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     StephenC (stephenc@aus.social)'s status on Saturday, 29-Apr-2023 15:22:12 JST StephenC

     in reply to

     @AstroKatie
     It is weird how the basics of science get cooked into conspiracy theories.

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