In theory, dark matter is undetectable matter, but something is surely there because it gives off electromagnetic radiation not visible on the known electromagnetic spectrum. It can be also found by its gravitational field, which accounts for otherwise unaccountable forces. The idea of dark matter was first postulated by Fritz Zwicky. Supposedly it is matter that can give off energy but has no other detectable form, and is therefore very hard to distinguish from dark energy. It makes up 25% of the universe, and in theory 70% is dark energy. The other 5% is normal matter.
Dark matter also appears not to interact with other matter via electromagnetic forces, so it is further difficult to find. Instruments that have no issues locating and tracing other matter have trouble finding it because it lacks the radiation measurable by our electromagnetic spectrum. It could be that it is has form of radiation much beyond either side of the spectrum or completely radiation neutral, which is nearly impossible.
Brown Dwarfs are the smallest regular stars – about 75-80 Jupiter masses. They are different from regular stars in that they have much less stable fusion reactions, but most experience at times lithium fusion, the main idea behind nuclear fusion power produced on earth artificially. Anyways, they are non-luminous, so they could be concealing dark matter within themselves.
The matter might also be made up of neutrinos, particles fundamental to elements previously thought to have no mass. But an electron neutrino would only have 1/100,000 of the mass of an electron, so they wouldn’t be able to account for the all the vast amount of empty space in the universe.
Dark energy can be described as very similar to dark matter but at the same very different. It may be just a field or fluid in the universe, repelling some objects and attracting others. It may be a property of a vacuum, a power seemingly coming from nowhere, because the space wants to be filled. Another possibility is that Einstein’s theory of gravity is incorrect. It explains why the planets in the Solar System orbits our sun, and why stars form into galaxies, but not why the universe is constantly expanding.
The implications if we could harness dark energy are endless, because if it is what makes the universe constantly expand, it must have extreme power, and we could use it for extremely rapid propulsion across the horizon of space, making the possibilities for space travel and colonization infinite. (that is, if our universe is infinite)
Dark matter and dark energy have great potential for power, if we could find the way to harness them. This website has a bunch of good info, if you read down the page:
http://news.discovery.com/space/interstellar-warpship-richard-obousy.html"Dark Energy, Dark Matter — NASA Science." NASA Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2010.
http://nasascience.nasa.gov/astrophysics/what-is-dark-energy.
"Dark Matter." Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences @ UCSD. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2010.
http://casswww.ucsd.edu/public/tutorial/DM.html.
"Dark matter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p.,
