Why.<p>Why do journalists insist on describing &quot;dark matter&quot; by qualifying it with statements like:<p><pre><code>  that mysterious, unseen counterpart to 
  ordinary, luminous matter 
</code></pre>
Dark matter is just shit that ain&#x27;t burning.<p>It&#x27;s not mysterious. It&#x27;s not &quot;spooky actions at a distance&quot;, it&#x27;s not galaxy devouring black hole matter. It&#x27;s not depressed, or angry, or crazy. It&#x27;s not an angst-ridden high school teenager.<p>It&#x27;s just opaque dirt. Or water. Or rocks. Or whatever.<p>Luminous spheres of raw nuclear fusion are much less &quot;ordinary&quot; than the rest of the matter in the universe.