If inflation did occur then its easy to show that the homogeniety and isotropism we observe (which would be a very small portion of the universe) would have to be consistent with the rest of the universe. Also the large structure distribution of dark matter should also be homogeneous and isotropic. All this would be a result of the dynamics of inflation. I think there are several definitions for dark matter. Things that are very difficult to detect because they interact with other matter very weakly (such as neutrino's), things that are undetectable in any spectrum (such as like you said "do not emit light") from very far away. Probably other stuff I left out out of ignorance. Up at the top of the forum page there is a article about the recent discovery of burnt out white dwarf stars. The CMBR gives so much information about the universe during the initial eras which were radiation dominated and in thermal equilibrium.
ps-Pretty awesome your getting your masters in psychology. Are you eventually going for your doctorate?

• One day at a time - egauldin - March 26, 2001 - 03:48 UTC