There's a race to discover dark matter, and it's deep underground

In the heart of an Italian mountain, scientists are building a machine. Deep in a former gold mine, tucked in the Black Hills of South Dakota, another team is doing the same.

They’re looking for a signal: a spark of light and free electrons. Evidence of dark matter

It’s never been detected in a lab. But scientists believe it’s more plentiful than “ordinary” matter. A lot more. Everything made of atoms — known as baryonic matter, the stuff we’re made of — is thought to make up less than 5 percent of the universe. Dark matter makes up another 25 percent. The rest is dark energy, a mysterious force that repels gravity and explains why the expansion of the universe is accelerating.  Read more…

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Source: Mashable | There's a race to discover dark matter, and it's deep underground