Dark Matter Hunters Construct a New Weapon

Dark Matter Hunters Construct a New Weapon

“Even if we don’t know what dark matter is, we know how it must act,” said Eduardo Abancens, a physicist at Spain’s University of Zaragoza and designer of a prototype dark matter detector.

According to physicists, only around five percent of what makes up the universe can presently be detected. The existence of dark matter is inferred from the behavior of faraway galaxies, which move in ways that can only be explained by a gravitational pull caused by more mass than can be seen. They estimate dark matter represents around 20 percent of the universe, with the other 75 percent made up of dark energy, a repulsive force that is causing the universe to expand at an ever-quickening pace.

Those of you who are aware of the hunt know the story. Hurry up and wait. Well here is the latest weapon in our Hurry up and wait arsenal. I remember one of my instructors discussing how the discovery and proof is just around the corner. YAWN.


I'm still enthusiastic but If and When we find proof I'll Party until then. I sit with my chin in hand.

reply to post by SLAYER69


hey slayer, I am one of the camps that think 2012 will usher in a new age; not the NWO evil kind, but new. I haven't looked in a while, but I'm thinking We are actually entering a dark matter area in space. Are You familiar with that?
oh, and S&F

reply to post by sanchoearlyjones


No actually I haven't heard that one yet.

Do you have a link?
thanks

reply to post by SLAYER69

But in order for the bolometer to work reliably, it needs to become even more sensitive, and maintain that sensitivity as it’s scaled up from the 46-gram prototype to a half-ton working model, said Rick Gaitskell, a Brown University physicist who was not involved in the research. At near-absolute zero, conducting research is “quite challenging,” said Gaitskell, who spent a decade trying to make detection systems work at that temperatur

There's a lot of potential there, Slayer! But I guess I won't hold my breath on this one till they know what the heck dark matter really is!

Good luck on this one!

Plum

Why do I get the horrible feeling that it's all going to end in tears...

Like a 'Half Life' scenario. We don't need xen creatures in this dimension thanks.

Still, very interesting article Slayer, S and F!

I'm not too worried about a dark matter weapon. Let them first figure out how to contain let alone find dark matter, and then I will consider worrying. In the meantime why don't we all pay attention to the real weapons that do exist.

The thing is, Slayer, every step of progress with cosmology or theoretical physics requires bigger, better machines. The LHC, which we haven't even gotten working fully yet, has a diameter of something like 27 km. The next one, if things go the way they've been going, will have to be even bigger, and use even more power. The expense keeps going up, and the time it takes to build them does, too.

I don't know if they'll ever figure out a way to make this science smaller. If they do, it would help a lot. But so far everything points to bigger is better, as we drill down into the most minute particles in the Universe.

Like you, I keep waiting for the next grand discovery...

reply to post by purehughness


But why? They are so cute and cuddly!



Did you have a bad passed experience with head crabs?



[edit on 12-10-2009 by DaMod]