Dark matter and Cosmology

For quite some time I've been rather provoking about our current knowledge of the universe by saying: "The only thing we know for sure about the current model is that it is false." The problem that has been plaguing scientists for some time is that the observed weight of the galaxies isn't enough to hold them together with gravitation. At least that's what the theory says. And since we all know that the theory is right (I'm being ironic here) people have suggested "dark matter", mass that we haven't been able to observe, to be floating around and making up for the lack of mass. This whole thing has always sounded a bit ridiculous to me. It's a sure sign that a theory is in trouble when you have to patch it like this. So I've just been waiting for the downfall of the theory.

Now it might turn out that fixing the theory is surprisingly easy. Researchers have now redone the calculations using a better approximation. They've used general relativity theory instead of Newton's old workhorse of a theory. It turns out that this closes the mass gap and removes the need for dark matter. The article hasn't been reviewed yet but if it holds out then it is a very good thing for the present cosmological model.