About 80 percent of the universe’s mass is thought to consist of dark matter. And yet, little is known about the composition and structure of the particles that make up dark matter, presenting physicists with some fundamental questions. To explore this elusive matter, researchers are attempting to capture photons, orContinue Reading
Scientists have devised a new method for mapping the spottiness of distant stars by using observations from NASA missions of orbiting planets crossing their stars’ faces. The model builds on a technique researchers have used for decades to study star spots. By improving astronomers’ understanding of spotty stars, the newContinue Reading
More than 5,000 planets have been discovered beyond our solar system, allowing scientists to explore planetary evolution and consider the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Now, a UC Riverside study published in Physical Review D suggests that these “exoplanets” could also serve as tools to investigate dark matter. The researchers examinedContinue Reading
One theory proposes a hidden physical realm with its own versions of particles and forces that gave birth to tiny, stable black hole-like objects that would account for all the dark matter observed today. The other theory explores whether dark matter could be a product of the universe’s own expansion,Continue Reading
For nearly a century, scientists around the world have been searching for dark matter – an invisible substance believed to make up about 80 percent of the universe’s mass and needed to explain a variety of physical phenomena. Numerous methods have been used in attempts to detect dark matter, fromContinue Reading
A new kind of cosmic object could help solve one of the universe’s greatest mysteries: dark matter. Particle Astrophysicists have proposed the existence of a strange new type of star-like object, called a ‘dark dwarf’, which may be quietly glowing in the center of our galaxy. Far from being darkContinue Reading
Researchers from Penn and Arizona State University pinpoint a lone five-particle package (a 5-plet) that could upend string theory by detecting it at the Large Hadron Collider. “Ghost” tracks that vanish mid-flight may be the smoking gun physicists are chasing. Early data squeeze the search window, but the next colliderContinue Reading
As federal funding cuts impact decades of research, scientists could turn to black holes for cheaper, natural alternatives to expensive facilities searching for dark matter and similarly elusive particles that hold clues to the universe’s deepest secrets, a new Johns Hopkins study of supermassive black holes suggests. The findings couldContinue Reading
A study by Dartmouth researchers proposes a new theory about the origin of dark matter, the mysterious and invisible substance thought to give the universe its shape and structure. The researchers report in Physical Review Letters that dark matter could have formed in the early life of the universe fromContinue Reading
Neuroscientists and materials scientists have created contact lenses that enable infrared vision in both humans and mice by converting infrared light into visible light. Unlike infrared night vision goggles, the contact lenses, described in the Cell Press journal Cell on May 22, do not require a power source — andContinue Reading
