Why is Einstein so famous when Galileo invented relativity? originally appeared on Quora: the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights. Answer by Paul Mainwood, PhD in physics, on Quora: There were a bunch of relativity principles before Einstein: Galileo had one, Newton had a slightly different one. Even Aristotle and Descartes had claims that can be taken as similar principles. I find their respective theories of mechanics almost incomprehensible, so am going to ignore them in what follows. Einstein is famous not because he invented some new, better, principle of relativity, but because he showed how to extend the existing relativity principle(s)
The search for elusive dark matter may have just gotten a big boost. Scientists have calculated the predicted mass of the axion, a hypothetical particle that some astronomers think may be the main constituent of dark matter. The new finding should greatly aid the hunt for axions, and could therefore help solve the longstanding dark-matter mystery, study team members said. "The results we are presenting will probably lead to a race to discover these particles," study co-author Zoltan Fodor, of Eötvös University in Budapest, Hungary, said in a statement. [Gallery: Dark Matter Throughout the Universe] Dark matter apparently neither absorbs nor emits light, which explains its name. Though astronomers
The race to discover the particles that constitute dark matter has begun after a supercomputer worked out the mass of one of the most promising candidates - axions. Dark matter makes up most of the universe, yet we know virtually nothing about it. At present there are two main theories about what dark matter is made of - either it is composted of a few but very heavy particles, or lots of extremely light ones.
