TaylorFade
10+ year member
I fail.
FYI- E=MC^2 has nothing to do with the "cosmological constant," which was the basis of my questioning the original statement that it was disproved. Interesting to note though that they are researching dark matter to see if Einstein was actually right. Original statement also said that Einstein was proven wrong in this decade. Hubble observed an expanding universe in 1929.
As far as the theory vs. hypothesis debate...
Straight from MIT...
As far as the theory vs. hypothesis debate...
Straight from MIT...
In layman’s terms, if something is said to be “just a theory,” it usually means that it is a mere guess, or is unproved. It might even lack credibility. But in scientific terms, a theory implies that something has been proven and is generally accepted as being true.
Hypothesis: This is an educated guess based upon observation. It is a rational explanation of a single event or phenomenon based upon what is observed, but which has not been proved. Most hypotheses can be supported or refuted by experimentation or continued observation.
Theory: A theory is more like a scientific law than a hypothesis. A theory is an explanation of a set of related observations or events based upon proven hypotheses and verified multiple times by detached groups of researchers. One scientist cannot create a theory; he can only create a hypothesis.
And that's my $0.02 (which is about all it's worth).In general, both a scientific theory and a scientific law are accepted to be true by the scientific community as a whole. Both are used to make predictions of events. Both are used to advance technology.
