Scientists are working on a new detector to study dark matter. They want to learn more about this mysterious substance.
At the University of Southampton in the UK, physicists are testing a special machine. This machine levitates sheets of graphite in space. They are looking for very small changes that might help explain dark matter.
“Dark matter is a big mystery,” says physicist Tim Fuchs. “It affects how our Universe is built, but we cannot see it.”
We see a lot of gravity, but there is not enough normal matter to explain it. This means dark matter must be there, but we cannot detect it directly. It does not give off light and only shows its presence through gravity.
The team plans to send their experiment into space on a satellite called Jovian-1. It will float in orbit around Earth for two years. They hope to measure the effect of dark matter on their levitated particles.
This mission is special. It may help us discover more about dark matter, whether they find it or not.
Vocabulary List:
- Detector /dɪˈtɛk.tər/ (noun): An instrument or device that detects or measures something.
- Levitates /ˈlɛvɪˌteɪts/ (verb): To rise or cause to rise and hover in the air usually by magnetic or other forces.
- Mysterious /mɪˈstɪr.i.əs/ (adjective): Difficult or impossible to understand explain or identify.
- Gravity /ˈɡræv.ɪ.ti/ (noun): The force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth or toward any other physical body having mass.
- Orbit /ˈɔr.bɪt/ (noun): The gravitationally curved trajectory of an object around a point in space.
- Experiment /ɪkˈspɛr.ɪ.mənt/ (noun): A scientific procedure undertaken to make a discovery test a hypothesis or demonstrate a known fact.
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