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Dark Matter Hints Detected in Underground Lab
Confirmed
In Short: Scientists at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota may have made a significant breakthrough in detecting dark matter, a substance thought to make up the majority of the universe's mass but never directly observed before.
The study, conducted over two years by 250 scientists and engineers from 39 institutions, used the world's most sensitive dark matter detector, LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ), to search for particle interactions that could indicate the presence of dark matter.
The researchers observed one potential interaction with a WIMP, a type of particle believed to make up dark matter, using a detector in an underground laboratory in the US.
While the result does not yet meet the statistical threshold required to claim a discovery, it is the most compelling hint of dark matter reported by the experiment to date.
The experiment uses 10 tonnes of ultrapure liquid xenon to search for dark matter and is optimized to look for WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles, which are believed to make up dark matter.
Despite the long-standing certainty of dark matter's existence, scientists have struggled to directly detect it due to its invisible nature and lack of interaction with normal matter.
What's confirmed
- It is managed by the US Department of Energy's Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota - the deepest laboratory in the US at nearly a mile beneath the ground.
What's still developing
- Scientists may have found evidence of dark matter for the first time in an underground lab Scientists believe they may be one step closer to detecting dark matter for the first time, but the findings have not been verified by independent researchers.
- Lead researcher physicist Dr Sam Eriksen said it could be "the first step in understanding dark matter as a particle", but further research could also reveal that the particle is not related to dark matter.
- While it is thought to make up the majority of mass in the universe, it has never been directly detected.
- Eriksen was the lead author of the study carried out at the Sanford Underground Research Facility For two years, 250 scientists and engineers from 39 institutions spanning six countries, including two universities from the UK, have rigorously scrutinised data from one of the world's most sensitive dark matter detectors called LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ).
- Although scientists have long been certain of the existence of dark matter, because it is invisible as it reflects no light.
- For the better part of a century, people have been trying to understand dark matter.
- This invisible substance makes up roughly 85% of the mass in the universe but has never been directly detected.
- “We’re very intrigued to see this event in the data, in the region where we expect dark matter to show up and the competing backgrounds are very low,” said Rick Gaitskell, a professor at Brown University and the spokesperson for LZ.