Is dark matter doomed?

Dark matter has appeared in the headlines this week – and just as more evidence of its existence has been found, more and more scientists are arguing that it simply doesn’t exist. So what’s going on? The famous Bullet cluster shows effects only possible (under current laws of Physics) had dark matter been not only in existence but travelling faster than the visible gas, and now scientists believe it is far from unique. Yes – you noticed – “under current laws of Physics”. That’s why some top theoretical Physicists have proposed adopting modified Newtonian dynamics instead, or “MOND”. Excitingly, this is becoming a much more feasible alternative, as MOND has given us correct predictions for speeds in Andromeda and galaxy-galaxy lensing. This is a topic to challenge even the best Physics and Mathematics applicants, and, from a modelling perspective, all you Computer Scientists.