Dark Matter, Dark Energy

From an interesting article on the NASA website:

"Roughly 70% of the universe is made of dark energy. Dark matter makes up about 25%. Everything on Earth, everything that we have ever observed with all of our instruments – normal matter – adds up to less than 5% of the universe. Then again, maybe we shouldn't even continue call it "normal" matter since it's just a small fraction of the universe! "

So, you ask, "What is Dark Matter & Energy?":

"We don't know. We know how much there is, and we know some of the properties it must have. Other than that, dark energy is a mystery. As with dark energy, we know very little about dark matter other than how much there is"

You may also ask "Dark Energy, what is it good for?":

"Albert Einstein was the first person to realize that empty space is not the same as nothingness. Space has amazing properties, many of which are just beginning to be understood. The first property of space that Einstein discovered is that it is possible for more space to come into existence. One version of Einstein's gravity theory makes a second prediction: "empty space" can possess its own energy. This energy would not be diluted as space expands, because it is a property of space itself; as more space came into existence, more of this energy-of-space would come into existence as well. As a result, this form of energy would cause the universe to expand faster and faster as time passes."

It's always seemed strange to me that the balance between "empty space" and matter was tipped so far in one direction. The fact that "empty space" can actually possess its own energy, and that this "dark energy" is flowing out from some great cosmic spigot, pushing the universe outwards, makes more sense to me. I like the idea that there is not a limited amount of energy in the universe, but rather that new energy is always appearing, and no one know how or why.

I also like that it's available in a bottle in case you don't have access to the dark nexus of the universe: