There's a race to discover dark matter, and it's deep underground

[NelsonG]

In the heart of an Italian mountain, scientists are building a machine. Deep in a former gold mine, tucked in the Black Hills of South Dakota, another team is doing the same.

They're looking for a signal: a spark of light and free electrons. Evidence of dark matter

It's never been detected in a lab. But scientists believe it's more plentiful than "ordinary" matter. A lot more. Everything made of atoms — known as baryonic matter, the stuff we're made of — is thought to make up less than 5 percent of the universe. Dark matter makes up another 25 percent. The rest is dark energy, a mysterious force that repels gravity and explains why the expansion of the universe is accelerating.  Read more...

More about Astronomy, Dark Matter, Universe, Big Bang, and Science

View the full article