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Dark matter: How does it explain a star's speed? - Don Lincoln

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All the stars in a spiral galaxy rotate around a center -- but to astronomers, the speed that each star travels wasn't making sense. Why didn't stars slow down toward the edges as expected? Don Lincoln explains how a mysterious force called dark matter is (possibly) the answer -- and why the search for an answer matters.

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Scientists have never observed dark matter and have inferred its existence from indirect measurements. Some critics, who are typically not scientists, have claimed that the dark matter hypothesis is an example of scientists inventing a concept so as to save their theories of gravity and motion. Some have even characterized dark matter as ‘something that you can’t see, but it holds the universe together’ and have drawn parallels with religious statements. Do you think these claims are valid? Explain your reasoning.

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Space Ed helps you untangle the mysteries of space with the universe’s best videos on everything from Einstein's theory of relativity to what it would take to live on Mars. Brush up on the science, philosophy and mystery of space, because the fabric of the universe is the same fabric that connects us all.

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  • Narrator Don Lincoln
  • Director Gatze Zonneveld
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