[tsimionescu]

It's clearly confirmed that galaxies don't obey the known laws of quantum electrodynamics (QED) + general relativity (GR) if we assume they are made entirely of Standard Model particles. So, either QED is wrong (extremely unlikely) or GR is wrong (unlikely) or there is some matter that is not in the Standard Model (plausible).

Dark matter corresponds to option 3 - and there are observations that conform some models of dark matter distribution that match quite well between different galaxies. There are other theories as well, such as MOND (modified Newtonian gravity) that explore option 2 (GR is wrong).

Still, whatever the theory, it's clear that what is not happening is "aliens someone consuming all of the EM radiation from some stars". With anything resembling currently known physics, it's impossible to "consume" EM radiation in this way. Electric charge is always conserved, electrons and quarks don't disappear just because they move around, even with something like controlled fusion. A Dyson sphere would be an extremely hot visible object, not some dark point.

[ben_w]

> So, either QED is wrong (extremely unlikely) or GR is wrong (unlikely)

Not my area, but I thought both were known to be incomplete? Q because it presumes a flat spacetime; R because it predicts the formation of singularities that the maths used to develop it assume don't exist?

[tsimionescu]

I think the general belief is that it will turn out that space time is actually approximately flat at small levels, so that QED will be essentially exactly correct, while GR will turn out not to apply past a certain small scale.

[FrustratedMonky]

Wasn't the term 'dark matter' just meant to indicate 'unknown'.

It wasn't meant to be descriptive, just that there is a gap between theories.

And one theory is there is some 'unknown' type of matter, and they called it dark.

[bhickey]

No. 'Dark' comes from 'dunkle' in German. It refers to non-luminous matter.

[throwuwu]

What if they’re really greedy about energy and store everything they can in superconductors?

[tsimionescu]

Superconductors still have an EM signature, they still have magnetic fields around them and are detectable.