Ah blast! I've got an obligation that's going to keep me in town. Have fun.

Several of us are going to Wolf Creek over Labor Day weekend. Any interest from members of this group?

Dark matter is 25% and dark energy 70%. Dark matter can be explained by the concept of minimal acceleration, which may have been confirmed by the Pioneer spacecraft, now at the outskirts of the solar system

We're at an interesting point in physics, just like we were before Einstein's paper on special relativity. At that time, Newtonian physics were at an increasing loss to explain observed phenomina. Relativity extended our understanding while at the same time enclosing Newton's work as something of a subset. This is the mark of two truly successful theories. Newton still works and is encapsulated in Einstein. Now we're at that place once again where observation and theory have reached a point of stress. Very few scientists seem to doubt the expansion of the universe, but theories to explain it (string theory, dark energy, branes, etc) are themselves barely supported by experiment--if at all. Some of these may turn out to be true, but they all smell of conjecture without experimental validation. So it's time for another Einstein (that won't be me). Wonder when we'll get one.