Dark Matter – Meaning and Importance
Dark matter was predicted in the past, but wherever scientists trained their telescopes and instruments in the heavens, they found only the hundred or so familiar chemical elements existing on the earth. Even stars in the farthest reaches of the universe are made of ordinary hydrogen, helium, oxygen, carbon, et cetera. On one hand, this was reassuring; we knew that wherever we traveled in outer space, our rocket ships would encounter only the chemical elements found on the earth. On the other hand, it was a bit disappointing knowing that there would be no surprises in outer space.