Exploration of the Universe's Dark Matter Secrets

Seashore · 06-24-2009, 01:06 AM

World's Deepest Underground Lab
Begins Construction to Explore Universe's Dark Matter Secrets

This is the headline of a notice on the Earthfiles website:

On June 22, 2009, South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds at the podium
dedicated the 4,850-foot-deep old Homestake gold mine in Lead, S. D.,
to become the Sanford Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory - the deepest
underground lab in the world. Another section goes down 8,000 feet. The gold mine largely
shields cosmic rays from interfering with the science goal to prove the existence of dark
matter that seems to make up most of the universe, but does not emit detectable light
or radiation and does not interact with ordinary matter through electromagnetic forces.
So, what is dark matter? How much exists? What role does it play in the evolution
of this universe? Image © 2009 by Steve McEnroe, AP.

06-24-2009, 01:06 AM	#1
Seashore Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 3,564	Exploration of the Universe's Dark Matter Secrets World's Deepest Underground Lab Begins Construction to Explore Universe's Dark Matter Secrets This is the headline of a notice on the Earthfiles website: On June 22, 2009, South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds at the podium dedicated the 4,850-foot-deep old Homestake gold mine in Lead, S. D., to become the Sanford Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory - the deepest underground lab in the world. Another section goes down 8,000 feet. The gold mine largely shields cosmic rays from interfering with the science goal to prove the existence of dark matter that seems to make up most of the universe, but does not emit detectable light or radiation and does not interact with ordinary matter through electromagnetic forces. So, what is dark matter? How much exists? What role does it play in the evolution of this universe? Image © 2009 by Steve McEnroe, AP.