Researchers dig deep underground in hopes of finally observing dark matter

The inside of the LZ outer detector shown as a white facility with gold eye-like detectors.

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Physicists like me don't fully understand what makes up about 83% of the matter of the universe — something we call "dark matter." But with a tank full of xenon buried nearly a mile under South Dakota, we might one day be able to measure what dark matter really is.