Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for May 23, 2018

I find dark energy to be repulsive.

It’s true – we don’t know. It is just a model to explain whatever is causing the universe to accelerate in its expansion.

I was hoping they could harness a little of it to make pocket flashdarks.

You know, for when you want to throw a little beam of darkness on something,

like, say, on your phone screen when you’re standing in the sun.

Anyone who figures out the nature of dark energy will receive an offer to join the Hogwarts faculty to join the newly-established Dark Physics Department.

Hippie energy: Turn on, tune in, Drop out.

Dark matter is kind of like the 4 humours of the Middle Ages — a temporary place holder to explain something we don’t understand until we can find out what really happens.

That’s the energy that Arlo lacks during the day when he’s asked to clean out the garage but which becomes active in the evening when Janis appears in her nightie. Most mysterious.

Maybe it’s really what happened to all the antimatter that is “supposed” to exist. But doesn’t.

Per my buddy, Google:

“Overall, dark energy is thought to contribute 73 percent of all the mass and energy in the universe. Another 23 percent is dark matter, which leaves only 4 percent of the universe composed of regular matter, such as stars, planets and people.”

(but what does he know?)

Mr. Johnson isn’t keeping up with current science or cosmology! Current thinking is that Dark matter/energy does not exist. So far all experiments to prove the existence of either, have failed or are showing results to the contrary. Like much of global warming studies, many of the programs to study the topic have been simply methods of getting large government grants to fund poor if not bad science. For more check out Suspicious Observers.

Physicists are unique people. I remember attending a discussion on the rings of Saturn by three of the “leading experts”, all planetary physicists. This was in 1078 or 1979. Each had a different theory on ring shapes, distribution, formation, etc. Two of them took some umbrage with each other as to why the other’s theory was wrong. The fly-by of Voyager 1 in 1980 showed all three were wrong.

Take it for what it’s worth.

If I recall, a theory works to explain some cause or effect. It doesn’t need to be true, but if it reliably works and explains some phenomena, then it can be accepted.

Is there a different writer for this strip or is it just me?

Dark Energy anti-Matters!