Black Holes or Dark Matter are thought to occupy 95% of space in our universe. Scientists found their gravitational pull upset previous predictions, so guessed at that number because they really don't know!

In my university course I wrote an essay about coherent light. But a new discovery had just been announced which changed things; lasers are in common use today. Science and technology move on. Every single breakthrough opens lots more questions!

The Challenger Shuttle disaster in 1986 is memorable because of the schoolteacher on board. At the time I was visiting Japan, unable to sleep worrying about my difficulties. I saw the launch and explosion on TV, then fell fast asleep realising other people had worse problems! The subsequent inquiry found that management had insisted on sticking to the plan, while engineers knew that the seals on the rocket would break down after being frozen on the launch pad overnight, as had happened. The explosion killed all on board.

So we learn that forceful communications can override simple truths from engineers and technicians and that sophisticated equipment can go wrong! The huge Post Office problems demonstrate both. First, failures in the Horizon software were suppressed by an outrageous failure of individuals to face facts with honesty and integrity. The second failure is too obvious; the post is unreliable and the organisation is not organised!

Corruption is the Dark Matter pervading our human world. Not always money, but people with broad responsibilities making decisions based on personal advantage rather than benefiting those they represent.

We have just celebrated the Christian festival of Easter. Two thousand years ago neither the Roman occupiers nor the Jewish leaders wanted Jesus to limit their influence and authority. Islam teaches that Jesus was taken directly up to heaven, leaving out the sacrifice of his death and resurrection which Christians believe is vital to understanding the relationship with God. But Jesus' teaching, whether as Christian Saviour or Moslem prophet, was for everyone to work with other people, to "love your neighbour as yourself", to work for the common good in harmony and peace, consistent with most Faiths and the inherent belief of many peoples.

As an activist many years ago, I was put forward for a BBC discussion programme. After interviewing me, the BBC chose someone else who never spoke. Clearly my views did not fit the producer's idea of what he wished to present. Since then, I listen to news bulletins wondering whether they are fact or skewed by spin. The satirical journal Private Eye gives an alternative version of the news. Reading it is like looking in a curved fun fair mirror, from which reality can be readily deduced! All today's media seem to have their own curved versions of reality, not just filtered but some seriously skewed!

Dark Matter in our everyday world is the continued distortion of facts and reality by politicians and the media, not all of them, but enough to be worried as to who is on the side of truth and who is simply working for their own advantage.

Bright lights can be found among local volunteer organisations, run by those without any personal ambition who are ready to devote time, energy and maybe cash to achieve what they recognise needs to get done.

Democracy is when we, the people, are jointly running things for the benefit of everyone else.