There they go again: claiming to have a map of something never observed.
This time it's an article in the Daily Mail with this headline: "See dark matter like NEVER before: NASA reveals one of the most detailed maps of the elusive substance yet – confirming its vital influence on the universe." We have these claims:
"NASA has revealed one of the most detailed maps of dark matter yet. Taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, the map suggests the elusive substance acts as a hidden framework on which entire galaxies are built...'By revealing dark matter with unprecedented precision, our map shows how an invisible component of the Universe has structured visible matter to the point of enabling the emergence of galaxies, stars, and ultimately life itself,' explained Dr Gavin Leroy, co–author of the study."
But how can someone have a map of dark matter locations when dark matter has never been observed? Scientists say dark matter is invisible. All attempts thus far to make direct observations of dark matter have failed. Dark matter doesn't even have a place in the Standard Model of Physics, and no evidence for it has turned up at the Large Hadron Collider.
We have in the Daily Mail article a claim that the map of dark matter was made by studying gravitational lensing. Gravitational lensing is what the article is referring to when the article states this: "Because dark matter is invisible, the team looked for it by observing how its mass curves space itself, which in turn bends the light travelling to Earth from distant galaxies."
But observations of gravitational lensing are not equivalent to observations of dark matter. Gravitational lensing is a strange effect produced on light rays bent by the gravity of high concentrations of matter. Such matter can be any type of matter: either normal matter or possibly some type of dark matter.
As Scientific American puts it when describing gravitational lensing:
"According to Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, mass warps space, so a large amount of matter in the foreground of a galaxy can bend its light in a way that makes it look slightly squashed. This is true whether the foreground mass is made of invisible dark matter or ordinary matter."
So if you are claiming to have a map of dark matter made by observing gravitational lensing, you are doing something rather like announcing that you have a map of UFO landing sites made by observing small burnt patches in the forest. Such patches might be produced by hot UFO's that are landing, but they also might be produced by ordinary lightning flashes, or by people setting campfires.
We have in the Daily Mail article some unwarranted language by a scientist, the language below:
"Dr Diana Scognamiglio, co–author of the study from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said: 'This is the largest dark matter map we've made with Webb, and it's twice as sharp as any dark matter map made by other observatories.
'Previously, we were looking at a blurry picture of dark matter.
'Now we're seeing the invisible scaffolding of the Universe in stunning detail, thanks to Webb's incredible resolution'."
No, there was no actual "dark matter map" created. All that went on is that scientists saw things that can be explained by matter or things other than dark matter (as postulated by MOND theorists), and scientists jumped to the conclusion that such effects were caused by dark matter, without any adequate warrant. You can't see things that are invisible.
The scientific paper of these claimants is entitled "An ultra-high-resolution map of (dark) matter." The title is inaccurate. The paper has figures, and none of them is labeled as a map of dark matter. The term "dark matter" is not even used in any of the captions of the paper's figures. We have here another case of what is so common these days in science literature: citation-hungry scientists giving their papers titles that do not match what is in the paper.
What scientists call "dark matter" is something they believe is not actually dark matter but instead invisible matter. A more candid term for "dark matter" would be "spooky matter." Scientists boasting about having created a dark matter map may say that they "saw dark matter." But they should instead merely be saying that they saw regular matter and energy, and that they inferred dark matter or guessed that dark matter was somewhere.
What type of "map of the spooky" would have much more empirical warrant than the claimed "map of spooky matter" that is a claimed dark matter map? It would be what we might call a paraverse interaction map
To explain such a map, I must explain the concept of the paraverse, explained in my 2016 post "The Possibility of a Paraverse." The term paraverse is formed from the end of the word “universe” and from the prefix “para,” which means “beside” or “to the side of.” We can define a paraverse as some hypothetical realm of existence that is in some sense connected to our universe in a way that allows information and causal influences to flow between our universe and this other realm of existence.
The two main differences between the multiverse concept and the paraverse concept are as follows:
The multiverse concept postulates many other universes, while the paraverse concept postulates only a single other realm of existence (without excluding the possibility of additional universes).
The multiverse idea typically postulates universes that are completely isolated from each other, without communication or interaction between any two of the universes; but conversely the paraverse concept says there may indeed be interaction or communication between our universe and some other realm of existence, with perhaps causes and effects sometimes flowing between the two.
The visual below illustrates the difference between the two ideas. The arrows represent interaction or communication.
In the diagram above the arrows ---> and <--- represent causal interaction.
In imagining a paraverse we should be as flexible and open-minded as possible. A paraverse might be a very physical place such as we know. Or it might be some ethereal state of existence very different from our existence. Beings living in a paraverse might be biological beings, or they might be beings of energy or purely spiritual beings. Maybe some of these beings once lived on Earth.
Given the limits of our knowledge, it would seem to make little sense to try to make a map of the paraverse. There are those who claim that after you die, you go to an afterlife realm that has seven levels. But the basis of such claims seems to be too thin to allow any map of the paraverse to be created.
However, there is a different type of "map of the spooky" that could be made with some empirical warrant. It is what we might call a map of paraverse interactions. A paraverse interaction may be defined as some occurrence in our world of some inexplicable paranormal phenomenon that seems to be some interaction involving causal agency between a paraverse and our familiar world.
A map of paraverse interactions would simply be a map showing where on planet Earth the most inexplicable paranormal phenomena have been observed. I will not attempt to make such a map. But I can mention a few places that should probably be marked by anyone creating such a map.
One such place would be London, England, the site of some of the most well-documented paranormal events in history, such as those discussed in my posts here, here, here, and here. Another such place would be some spots in upstate New York state, USA corresponding to the phenomena reported in my posts here and here. Two other such places might be Fatima, Portugal and Lourdes, France. Another such place might be the city of Boston in the USA, where lived the medium Leonora Piper, whose case is described here. Another such place might be New York City, USA, particularly Grand Central Terminal in midtown Manhattan, where I have photographed more than 1000 mysterious orbs, as you can see by using the link here, and continuing to press Older Posts at the bottom right. Below is one of the photos, from 2015.
The same city has been the sight of a long series of extremely spooky events described in my post here and my series of 100+ posts you can read here by continuing to press Older Posts at the bottom right of each page.
A thorough attempt at a paraverse interaction map might well also include various locations in India and Brazil where paranormal events have been reported. Unlike the "dark matter map" which scientists groundlessly boasted about, a paraverse interaction map would be a map listing the locations of baffling sights that people actually saw or photographed.
