The Science was Settled

Hubble Ultra Deep Field  Space Telescope  Photo Image

It's been in a tab so long it's got mildew but, from Jazz Shaw at Hat Hair, Physicist: There is no Dark Matter and the Universe is Twice as Old as We Thought

Dr. Rajendra Gupta, a theoretical physicist from the University of Ottowa made a remarkable announcement recently. He claimed that new data suggests that the universe is nearly twice as old as the 14 billion-year figure we've been given for a very long time. And if that's true, he further claims that there is no need for anything like dark matter to exist because the universe is behaving precisely as it should. That would really change the landscape of current astrophysics. (Science Alert)

Sound waves fossilized in the maps of galaxies across the Universe could be interpreted as signs of a Big Bang that took place 13 billion years earlier than current models suggest.

Last year, theoretical physicist Rajendra Gupta from the University of Ottawa in Canada published a rather extraordinary proposal that the Universe's currently accepted age is a trick of the light, one that masks its truly ancient state while also ridding us of the need to explain hidden forces.

Gupta's latest analysis suggests oscillations from the earliest moments in time preserved in large-scale cosmic structures support his claims.

Gupta went on to state that if the universe is 26.7 billion years old as his team believes, "the Universe does not require dark matter to exist." I'm obviously nowhere near smart enough to grasp everything these eggheads are talking about, but the layman's explanation for this part of it boils down to missing data. Previous studies all suggested that the universe is expanding faster than it should be based on the amount of physical matter we are able to observe in space. That's why physicists had to dream up dark matter (and its corresponding partner, dark energy) to explain what was being observed. But the vastly larger universe now being posited would allow for the apparent motion of all of the heavenly bodies.

Well, I can live with that. I had heard, though, that one of the more compelling arguments for dark matter was the rotation of galaxies; most galaxies rotated as though they were surrounded by a halo of matter which could not be observed, but a few galaxies had been observed that seemed to be striped of this excess mass by a galactic collision. I don't see how this observation explains that. 

This one's not quite so stale. From Dave Strom at Hat Hair,  The Beepocalypse Has Been Canceled. Remember, a few years ago all the concern that Honeybees were dying out from some "colony collapse disorder" of unknown origin?  You might be shocked to find that now honeybees are so abundant as to be a "problem."

The beepocalypse was always a manufactured panic, although a rather profitable one for a small slice of the population who "consulted" on how to save the bees. Environmentalists loved the story because it provided another angle to attack industrial agriculture. And, of course, for the media, which regularly push false narratives to keep us excited.

The Washington Post presents a fascinating observation: never before in American history have there been more bee colonies. This intriguing trend, like many others, is a product of economic forces.

Back in the aughts, you couldn't get away from the beepocalypse story, and in certain circles it continues to be pushed. Environmentalists testify at legislatures with scare stories about the lack of pollinators and the coming collapse of agriculture. And tax breaks for planting flowers at solar farms popped up. Bees dying provided jobs and fodder for lobbying.

None of it was true. There was, indeed, an epidemic of colony collapse syndrome during the Bush administration, but it turns out that colony collapse syndrome goes back as far as records of bee colonies do. It apparently is cyclical, and nobody knows why.

Even at the height of the "colony collapse disorder" hysteria, it was pretty clear that honey bees weren't in any danger, the bee keepers had matters well in hand. Also, it was pretty clear that bees were being used as a weapon in the fight against neonicotinoid pesticides. 

Search Google and you will see an unending list of attacks on these pesticides, mostly linked to how they kill off bees. Ironically, of course, we know that this is overblown because honeybees are constantly pollinating agricultural products using these insecticides, and there are a record number of hives and bees.

And the reason for the apparent surplus of Honeybees may surprise you, but should not shock you. Tax policy in Texas! 

Your plot of five to 20 acres now qualifies for agriculture tax breaks if you keep bees on it for five years.

Over the next few years, all 254 Texas counties adopted bee rules requiring, for example, six hives on five acres plus another hive for every 2.5 acres beyond that to qualify for the tax break. 

As usual, follow the money.