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Stargazer takes on grand theory

By Eugenie Samuel

27 July 2002

A LONE astronomer says observations of the cosmos go further towards ruling out one of physicists’ most popular theories than the most expensive particle accelerators have so far. His claims are causing consternation among particle physicists, who say that his work relies on assumptions that may not be true.

Most physicists and astronomers agree that for rotating galaxies not to fly apart, they must contain much more matter than we actually see. It’s believed that more than 90 per cent of the Universe is made up this “dark matter”. Dark matter particles are called “WIMPs” – weakly interacting massive particles…

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