Scientists trying to shed light on dark matter

[Dashken]

BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Discover the nature of dark matter and you will win a Nobel Prize and could help reveal the fate of the universe, which is why scientists in deep underground labs worldwide are seeking the answer to what is the invisible cosmic glue believed to keep galaxies from spinning apart.

Prior searches for dark matter have found nothing, yet some two dozen research teams are plumbing the darkness of forsaken mines and tunnel shafts for a fleeting glimpse.

Dark-matter detecting machines today are more powerful than previous generations, but even the best has failed so far. Many teams are now building bigger detectors or toying with novel technologies to aid in the hunt.

"We're in the golden age of dark matter search," said Sean Carroll, a California Institute of Technology theoretical physicist who has no role in the experiments. "It's looking good for some breakthroughs to happen."

The quest for dark matter dates back to the 1930s when Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky of Caltech, peering through his telescope, determined that there's missing mass in the universe by observing celestial motions. The idea took a while to catch on, but is now the subject of an intense underground hunt.

Dark matter detectors are expensive to build and even pricier to upgrade and operate. Many projects are funded by a mix of sources. For example, the National Science Foundation has invested about 21 million U.S. dollars since fiscal year 2000 on six projects.

Scientists are also searching for dark matter in space. NASA next year plans to launch the GLAST telescope to study gamma ray bursts that may be created by dark matter collisions. And it's possible researchers will create dark matter in the lab — like at the Large Hadron Collider buried beneath the Swiss-French border — even before they confirm it in the cosmos or under ground.

The prevailing theory is that dark matter is tiny, exotic particles left over from the Big Bang some 13.7 billion years ago. Dark matter, thought to make up a quarter of the universe's mass, gets its name because it doesn't give off light or heat. Astronomers know it exists because of its gravitational tug-of-war with stars and galaxies.

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_6523847.htm

[Adrian Wong]

I don't get this though... Why hunt for it in mines???