Dark Energy: The Hack Writer Reads Scientific American

I’ve always liked cosmology, probably because my father often talked about it. The February 2007 issue of Scientific American has an article by Christopher J. Conselice entitledThe Universe’s Invisible Hand. Christopher is an astronomer and Lecturer at the University of Nottingham. He was at Cal Tech until recently.

I enjoyed the article. Chris explained how galaxies stopped merging and settled into regular shapes, how star formation dropped off, and how dark energy became a major player in our universe. Black holes have become quiescent (but don’t get too close.) All of this occurred when the universe was about half the age it is now.

I often tell my wife my theories on the universe. She politely listens. She has heard me say many times that black holes have to be one of the oldest features of the universe and did not form later by large mass concentrations simply grabbing up ancient matter. Yes, they grabbed up matter but they were already there. I no doubt will be proven wrong on this because I’m not an astronomer or an cosmologist.

I’ve never understood dark energy or its origin. But like my black hole theory, I now “know” what dark energy is. Dark energy is the very essence of the universe. Everything in the universe including the fabric of space was created by dark energy. In other words, all of the energy available to create the matter of the universe was not used up in the Big Bang. My black hole theory was based on what we engineers call incomplete combustion. If there is anything perfect in this universe, other than you and me, I haven’t seen it. Now, Christopher didn't say that dark energy is the essence of the universe. I did. But what was the catalyst for the Big Bang? My article is at
http://ezinearticles.com/?Dark-Energy:-The-Hack-Writer-Reads-Scientific-American&id=470513