Bob Collins
Scientists may have discovered actual evidence of dark matter.
Up to now, the notion that “dark matter” is the glue that holds the universe together has been only a theory, but Space.com is reporting today that two Illinois researchers — one of them a mere grad student — have discovered evidence of dark matter in several explosions.
What does it matter? We know that atoms are a big part of matter, but it’s also believed that they only make us up 20% of matter.
Says Space.com:
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which has scanned the heavens in high-energy gamma-ray light since it was launched in 2008, has observed a signal of gamma-rays at the very center of the galaxy that was brighter than expected. Hooper and Goodenough tested many models to explain what could be creating this light. They ultimately concluded it must be caused by dark matter particles that are packed in so densely that they are destroying each other and releasing energy in the form of light.
Physicists have theorized that dark matter particles might be their own antimatter partners, and thus when two dark matter particles meet under the right circumstances, they would destroy each other. Alternatively, dark matter particles might be meeting anti-dark matter particles at the galactic center.
The search for the very secret of the universe has a definite Minnesota connection. One of the biggest projects is based in the Souhan Soudan Mine in northern Minnesota. Another is based in Rome. Both have previously reported some measure of particles that may be evidence of dark matter.
