WIMPS and Machos

Number of years doggedly spent on the “WIMP” hunt =/> 40
Number of “WIMP” theory papers = more than 10,000
Cost of “WIMP” searches = multiple billions of US dollars
Number of “WIMPs” found = 0, as in ZERO, nada, zilch, zip, goose egg
Number of false-positives = sorry, lost count
Number of years the “WIMP” hunt can continue = unlimited?

Given the long string of negative results for WIMP/axion/sterile neutrino/whateveron searches, punctuated by false-positives that are reliably shot down in due time, why not suspend writing pieces on “particle dark matter” until there is actually some credible evidence for a positive detection, if ever.

That way science journalists can refocus their attention to where the real action is in dark matter research: stellar-mass primordial black holes, MACHOs, an increasing number of neutron star classes like nulling pulsars, rogue planetary-mass objects, fast radio bursts, gamma-ray burst sources, etc.

RLO
http://www3.amherst.edu/~rloldershaw