The answer has to do with dark matter’s role in shaping the cosmos.
Even experiments that aren’t looking for dark matter directly could give us hints about the mysterious substance that permeates our universe.
No one knows for sure what dark matter is. But we know we need something to explain what we see in the universe, and we’ve crossed a few ideas off of our list.
Although scientists have yet to find the spooky stuff, they aren’t completely in the dark.
As technology improves, scientists discover new ways to search for theorized dark matter particles called axions.
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will be named for an influential astronomer who left the field better than she found it.
An Italian experiment has a 20-year signal of what could be dark matter—and scientists are embarking on their most promising efforts yet to confirm or refute its results.
A hidden world of particles awaits.
The minuscule and the immense can reveal quite a bit about each other.
A theory about gravity challenges our understanding of the universe.
We know which way the dark matter wind should blow. Now we just have to find it.
Theorists think dark matter was forged in the hot aftermath of the Big Bang.
A recent uptick in the discovery of the smallest, oldest galaxies benefits studies of dark matter, galaxy formation and the evolution of the universe.
Scientists don’t yet know what dark matter is made of, but they are full of ideas.
Dark matter experiments are becoming so sensitive, even the ghostliest of particles will soon get in the way.
What are WIMPs, and what makes them such popular dark matter candidates?
Indirect detection experiments might be the key to discovering invisible dark matter.
When the Large Hadron Collider restarts, it will be an even more powerful dark-matter-hunting machine.
How much do you really know about dark matter? Symmetry looks at one of the biggest remaining mysteries in particle physics.
Does the visible photon have a counterpart, a dark photon, that interacts with the components of dark matter?
The pursuit of dark matter and dark energy is one of the most exciting—and most challenging—areas of science. Now researchers think they’re beginning to close in.
Whereas matter on Earth and in stars is made of atoms and nuclei, scientists know that dark matter must be made of something else. Neutralinos are a prime candidate.
Dark matter seems to be abundant in the universe but has yet to be directly detected.
