Jenna read an article about "dark energy" and "dark matter". They started to appear in the press shortly after the disaster. It took a discovery in 1998 to make scientists and astronomers realize that about 96 percent of the universe was unknown to them. This alarmed them greatly.
Dark energy, the scientific community observed, made up about 75 percent of the universe. It existed in a vacuum and exerted negative pressure on matter. Its power was leading to a rapid acceleration in the disintegration of the universe. In this, it competed with dark matter, or gravitational energy, which made up about 20 percent of the remainder, leaving stars and their offspring, humans and the rest of the natural world, to make up the balance.
It was the role of gravitational energy to slow this expansion down and scientists felt that they were living in a unique moment in history as the two energies held the universe in balance. Until this point in our evolution, they said, our senses and perceptions had assisted humankind to move out and to survive in the wilderness. However, in no way did this knowledge give us the insight into the true nature of the universe and its underlying reality. There was a strange reality that existed just below the surface of our everyday world, they said, and that perhaps life as we knew it was poised on the brink.
Regardless of its composition, they said confidently, this energy could not interact with matter. They were sure about this. They stated that even though they were in the dark about 96 percent of the universe, this energy could not harm the remaining 4 percent of matter. They were separate spheres of energy. Crossover was impossible.
Jenna knew they were wrong.
Dark energy, the scientific community observed, made up about 75 percent of the universe. It existed in a vacuum and exerted negative pressure on matter. Its power was leading to a rapid acceleration in the disintegration of the universe. In this, it competed with dark matter, or gravitational energy, which made up about 20 percent of the remainder, leaving stars and their offspring, humans and the rest of the natural world, to make up the balance.
It was the role of gravitational energy to slow this expansion down and scientists felt that they were living in a unique moment in history as the two energies held the universe in balance. Until this point in our evolution, they said, our senses and perceptions had assisted humankind to move out and to survive in the wilderness. However, in no way did this knowledge give us the insight into the true nature of the universe and its underlying reality. There was a strange reality that existed just below the surface of our everyday world, they said, and that perhaps life as we knew it was poised on the brink.
Regardless of its composition, they said confidently, this energy could not interact with matter. They were sure about this. They stated that even though they were in the dark about 96 percent of the universe, this energy could not harm the remaining 4 percent of matter. They were separate spheres of energy. Crossover was impossible.
Jenna knew they were wrong.