Does the “Dark Dimension” Hypothesis Link Dark Matter and Dark Energy?

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The story

Recent observations suggesting that dark energy may actually be weakening have led to a new proposal: an unknown dimension called the “Dark Dimension,” offered as a possible key to the mystery. Under this hypothesis, the dimension arises from the interaction between dark matter and dark energy, an idea derived from superstring theory. On the 5ch Science News+ thread, serious debate over the universe’s breakdown of mass and energy mixed with jokes — parodies centered on Saint Seiya special-attack names topped the list — while some posters questioned how far the theory could ever be tested by observation.

What is the “Dark Dimension” that might link the universe’s two great mysteries, dark matter and dark energy?

Recent research has raised the possibility that dark energy is weakening. As debate continues over why, an unknown dimension called the “Dark Dimension” — arising from interaction with dark matter — may hold the key to the mystery.

For those who see the world as a dark place, it seems the universe is a dark place too.

Source: wired.jp / Read the original article here

What people said

2AnonymousSep 20, 2026 20:44
Sounds like one of Shingo Kurumada's special-attack names
3AnonymousSep 20, 2026 21:00
The Dark Staff that made a fortune vanish.

Can we reclaim our billion-yen "delicious life" from the wonder-loving darkness?
4AnonymousSep 20, 2026 21:42
If it's the Dark Dimension, it's sleeping quietly in my right arm… for now, that is
6AnonymousSep 20, 2026 23:00
Re: #4
Haven't seen her around lately, but I bet Hanako Yamada (comedian/tarento) is hiding in there.
Medaka Ikeno, bro… lol (veteran comedian known for his catchphrases)
5AnonymousSep 20, 2026 21:47
Wasn't that a thing from Saint Seiya?
7AnonymousSep 21, 2026 01:11
Read the original article and got let down — string theory, dark dimensions… both are just theory and probably permanently unprovable.
8AnonymousSep 21, 2026 02:17
Isn't it contradictory that dark matter is 25% yet accounts for 85% of the universe's mass?

Currently observed atoms make up 15% of the universe's mass, so together that's supposed to add up to 100%, apparently
10AnonymousSep 21, 2026 02:23
Re: #8-9

It's confirmed that dark matter has mass in space, so it's using up energy.

Dark matter generates mass because it has drag/friction in the universe, so of course dark energy would arise too
37AnonymousSep 21, 2026 13:15
Re: #8
25% of the total when you count mass and energy together,
versus 85% when you look at mass alone
9AnonymousSep 21, 2026 02:20
70% of the universe's expansion is dark energy, and 30% is energy whose source has been identified — together that's supposed to make 100%
11AnonymousSep 21, 2026 02:29
Re: #10

The atoms currently observed generate 15% of the universe's mass

If we only count the atoms we can observe, energy consumption in space would be low, meaning that — for just those observed atoms — faster-than-light travel would become possible
 If you pass only through the spots where our observable atoms are, you could move at high speed, but with no friction you'd go off course. Though if you collide with dark matter above a certain speed, maybe dark matter's mass could let you steer your course?
13AnonymousSep 21, 2026 02:33
Re: #11
It's a contradiction: dark matter slows the universe's expansion, yet dark energy is what's supposedly accelerating it
Dark matter is only 25% of the whole universe, so isn't something off here?

Shouldn't we need more precise observations of whether the universe's expansion is faster or slower than the speed of light?
12AnonymousSep 21, 2026 02:31
The universe is made of nothing but the four elements: fire, water, air, and earth
20AnonymousSep 21, 2026 02:47
Re: #19
>>By studying the light arriving from supernovas like these, we can learn about the rate of the universe's expansion. This is the flash of light visible in the lower right of the Hubble Space Telescope image.


>>What we normally perceive are three spatial dimensions plus one time dimension. But string theory posits six or seven additional dimensions on top of those. All of these extra dimensions are thought to be as small as physically possible, close to the Planck length (10⁻³⁵m). However, researchers have proposed that the dark dimension could be far larger than the other dimensions — on the order of 1 micrometer (10⁻⁶m).
21AnonymousSep 21, 2026 02:50
The idea that dark matter exists as actual physical matter is settled.

If spiritual beings exist, the only place left for them to exist would be as dark matter.

Maybe we're entering an era where it gets proven whether "spiritual beings" are just a psychic-scam sales pitch (a nod to Japan's "reikan shōhō" spiritual-goods scams)
22AnonymousSep 21, 2026 02:52
Something linking Saga and Kanon?
23AnonymousSep 21, 2026 02:54
Dark matter: 85% of the universe's mass
Currently observed atoms: 15% of the universe's mass
※Together that's supposed to add up to 100% mass

In the universe, dark matter is 25%
Currently observed atoms are 75%
※Together that's supposed to add up to 100%

 Regarding the universe's expansion
Dark energy is 70%
Energy whose source is currently 100% confirmed is 30%
※Together that's supposed to add up to 100%

Given all that, isn't something off?
24AnonymousSep 21, 2026 02:55
Re: #23 If you had "Professor AI" thoroughly work through where the contradictions are, you'd probably get a totally different answer
25AnonymousSep 21, 2026 03:00
Even if a UFO could move faster than light, the instant it passes through a region with dark matter, mass is generated, so it's certain to decelerate

It's beyond doubt that UFOs travel along a route that avoids dark matter, but as proven in Re: #14, merely moving faster than light doesn't stop it from being 100% observable by telescopes

Every single one of those UFO teleportation videos must be fake
26AnonymousSep 21, 2026 03:07
Re: #25

Maybe the trick to high-speed travel in the universe is: use dark matter as a cushion — "building up the route" — and supply energy so the currently observed atoms can move faster than light?

Currently observed atoms make up 15% of the universe's mass, so you'd need to calculate the mass along the route from point A to point B
 Maybe you'd need to fix the dark matter in place along a circular route between A and B, like a racetrack, so the energy can't escape?

But there's a phenomenon where galaxy mergers blow dark matter away, so maybe that whole setup is impossible?
27AnonymousSep 21, 2026 03:07
Why overthink it — why not just call it mass trapped inside every black hole?
You can't observe the inside of a black hole, but it's still there, right?
29AnonymousSep 21, 2026 05:45
So the Dark Dimension hypothesis is basically a spinoff of superstring theory
Under this hypothesis, dark matter interacts through nothing but gravity
Which means, if that's right, the WIMP and axion theories are both wrong, and the WIMP and axion search experiments would end up empty-handed
Of course, the fact that existing dark matter detection experiments haven't found anything doesn't prove this hypothesis is correct either
Also, there's apparently a prediction that Newton's gravity equation breaks down at the micron scale,
so I guess the question is whether that can be tested going forward
30AnonymousSep 21, 2026 05:59
I bet Dark Physics can explain it with Dark Logic.
31AnonymousSep 21, 2026 06:10
The soul is made of dark matter
32AnonymousSep 21, 2026 07:27
Reanalysis of supernova observation data suggests "the universe's expansion may not be accelerating"
September 20, 2026, 11:10 PM
https://gigazine.net/news/20260920-supernova-cosmic-acceleration-questioned/
Conventional wisdom has held that "the universe keeps expanding, and its pace is increasing," but a research team from India's Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the UK's University of Oxford used a catalog of observational data from more than 1,700 supernovae to test whether the evidence actually backs up "accelerating expansion" — and found there's a possibility that expansion isn't accelerating after all.

(omitted)

Going forward, the team says it wants to verify these results using data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's wide-field survey program, the "Legacy Survey of Space and Time." That survey is expected to observe several hundred thousand supernovae.
33AnonymousSep 21, 2026 07:29
That's the Gemini Gold Saint Saga's special move, right? I get it.
34AnonymousSep 21, 2026 08:21
What about the Dark Ducks? (the famous Japanese vocal quartet)
35AnonymousSep 21, 2026 09:48
Shingo Kurumada was ahead of the curve on astrophysics
36AnonymousSep 21, 2026 11:44
Re: #1
So the "Dark Dimension" shows up, huh — next up must be "Dark Angel"
38AnonymousSep 21, 2026 18:22
If energy gets used for something, doesn't it just break down and disappear?
40AnonymousSep 21, 2026 18:51
Another Dimension!
41AnonymousSep 21, 2026 19:02
Sounds like Saturnia-chan, who slaps "Devils" onto everything (little-devil character from the anime Gabriel DropOut).

Background and Talking Points on This Topic

Under the current standard model of cosmology, the universe’s energy/mass breakdown is roughly 68% dark energy, 27% dark matter, and 5% observable ordinary matter. In the thread, several different ratios were thrown around — “85% dark matter, 15% ordinary matter,” “25% dark matter, 75% ordinary matter,” and so on — leading to some talking-past-each-other moments; this appears to stem from conflating mass-based ratios with total-energy-based ratios, and it’s worth noting these figures differ from the standard ones. Also, the “Dark Dimension” is, at the end of the day, just one hypothesis derived from superstring theory — it could potentially be tested in the future through deviations in Newtonian gravity at the micron scale, but it has not been demonstrated at this point. The thread also touched on a reanalysis of supernova data (per a Gigazine article) that questions the universe’s accelerating expansion itself — that’s a separate line of research questioning the existence of dark energy altogether, and shouldn’t be conflated with the above.

※This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Science News+) thread “[Cosmology] What is the “Dark Dimension” that might link the universe’s two great mysteries, dark matter and dark energy?“.

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