Max Von Sama and the Samachine

Tag: Dark matter



Is dark matter hiding in plain sight?

In this article published on Skymania, Kulvinder Singh writes about  a study published in January of this year: Jiaxin Han, Carlos Frenk and others in China, the UK and Germany saw something unusual: Three galaxy clusters—Virgo, Fornax and Coma, showed an excess of high-energy gamma-rays that couldn’t be accounted for from sources such as pulsars, gamma-ray bursts or background emissions – including from within our own Galaxy. Something else seemed to be emitting radiation; something that continued three degrees out from the clusters (around six times the diameter of the full moon on the sky). However, they couldn’t be sure if the neutralino or some other effect was responsible. The problem is that dark matter, save for its gravitational effect on radiation and normal matter (the type that makes up stars, galaxies, planets, nebulae, etc.), has never revealed itself. It’s a field of intense study in astrophysics as it accounts for 83-per cent of all the matter in the Universe – forming the nucleation sites of galaxies and creating the large-scale cosmic structure that we see. Then it becomes very interesting: This ‘lumpiness’ favours cold dark matter theories as warm dark matter would be too energetic to coalesce. The neutralino, a…



Dark matter finds new home in old gold mine

Lead is a town of about 3,100 residents, about a half-hour from the Wyoming border. Nestled nearly 5,000 feet beneath the earth, is a laboratory that could help scientists answer some pretty heavy questions about life, its origins and the universe. Yes, we’re talking about dark matter. Regular matter — people and planets, for example — make up about 4 percent of the total mass-energy of the universe, he said. Dark matter makes up about 25 percent. Dark matter is too sensitive to detect in normal laboratories, but one so far underground would help shield it from pesky cosmic radiation. Also, the LUX detector (Large Underground Xenon, the world’s most sensitive dark-matter detector) is submerged in water, further insulating it. The article published on the Herald Tribune provides more details about this experience which could lead to unexpected results!








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