Was wondering if someone here new the current 'scientific' accepted discription of what is meant by the term 'dark matter'.

Or even if someone new the current debated discription(s) of what such matter could possibly be.

well, dark matter is so called anti-matter, like a negative proton and a positive electron, such matter is found in space according to theory

basically, it is a way for scientists to explain why stars and galaxies move when they dont know why... they say it is unseeable, force that has gravitational pulls that effect solar bodies.

it used to be cosmic strings, but then they switched it to dark matter

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/11/dark-matter-mys/

The bulk of our universe is composed of dark matter so it's definitely consequential.

Nice link but it does not explain what it is only what they think it does.

Last I heard, we don't know with certainty what dark matter is. We are confident of its existence because of its effects, so talking about its effects is the best way to begin a conversation about why we think it exists and what it might be.

its just a theory, way way to explain why some solar bodies are moving the way they do....

Isn't "Dark Matter" the arch-nemesis of "Light Matter," the superhero?

We don't know what dark matter is because we have not captured any in the lab yet. From the properties it exhibits, the best guess is that it is composed of WIMPS. These particles are not matter or anti-matter as we know them. They comprise a separate form of matter which acts in a different manner. They are Weakly Interacting but Massive Particles. Their gravity is known and felt but the matter itself would flow through you like water through a sieve.

"In astrophysics, weakly interacting massive particles or WIMPs, are hypothetical particles serving as one possible solution to the dark matter problem. These particles interact through the weak nuclear force and gravity, and possibly through other interactions no stronger than the weak force. Because they do not interact with electromagnetism they cannot be seen directly, and because they do not interact with the strong nuclear force they do not react strongly with atomic nuclei.

This combination of properties gives WIMPs many of the properties of neutrinos, save for being far more massive and therefore slower."

While dark matter hasn't been captured, it's gravity is easily measured by the effect on cosmic light. NASA has mapped the areas of dark matter in both location and density with great accuracy. This method is called "gravitational lensing" and produces the type of images as follows.



By similar methods (the same actually) the amount of mass can be accurately found and computed. These calculations have been verified and result in the following split:



If you just consider matter as another form of energy, the above pie chart gives the breakdown of energy in our universe.

I can see your point. For me dark matter is when the computer won't boot and you are just left staring at the dark matter. Or when your in-laws come over when you are bent over trying to fix the kitchen sink and you at first think it is just a dark shadow but sure enough when you raise up you can plainly see it is dark matter.

So it's like the soul or like free will, you say?

These two have effects and scientists don't know what they are. Or sentences, or thoughts.

Maybe thoughts are dark matter?

Maybe that's why we are afraid of death?

What is the difference between two things that have effects, different effects, but neither are definable or even findable? Who is to say they are not the one and the same thing?

perhaps emotions, soul, perception, etc., are all dark matter, but it has not been proven. And we don't know how the soul attaches to the body. And we say a guy loses 21 grams when he dies, but no experiments have been conducted to show if he does or not. And if it shows that he does not, maybe his soul is big, but its Virtual Impish Weight is so little that when the soul disattaches from the body at the moment of death, there is no noticeable difference in his weight. Or maybe a wimp has more WIMP than a braveheart? What about chicks? How do their souls measure up in the WIMP coefficient?

I was kinda wondering if perhaps our scientist missed something quite simple.

could it just be 'asteriod' fields...

Such small (relative) items would be nothing more than atomic dust at a range of a few astronomical units let alone at the range of lightyears...

and they would have (collectivly) mass and effect on nearby astronomical objects.

Yet be hard to 'see'.

I bet a knowledgeable person will say, "yeah, but dust and stuff have (name a property no normal person has ever heard of or been able to conceptualise), and dark matter don't.

That dot there... toward the right of centre, a small but visible dot... shouldn't there be a sign, "you are here"?

And... erm... is this picture showing the space we know of that is seven angstroms in diameter, or sixty-five billion light years across?

Which way is north? Or "up"? What's the red light for? A "yahoo" map, showing the best way to drive from here to there?

As a picture, it is beautiful. To me it looks like Winnie-the-Pooh, sitting at the moment on a tree-trunk in front of his house that has a sign above his door, "John Smith", and on his left hand, at hip hight, is another, smaller version of him. As drawn by Uncle Sheppard, not by Walt Disney.

The key property of dark matter is that it does not react to electromagnetic fields, hence the name "dark". All the items you listed react quite well with electromagnetic fields which would allow us to see them, hence they are not "dark".