Scientists may have detected the 1st direct evidence of dark matter

An illustration of a rare interaction between dark matter WIMP particles.

In what could be a groundbreaking discovery, scientists report they may have detected the first direct evidence of dark matter. The potential detection came from the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment, in the form of a single suspected interaction between a Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP), one of the leading hypothetical particle candidates for dark matter, and an everyday particle.

Dark matter has been a headache for scientists because, despite accounting for 85% of the mass in the universe, scientists have no idea what it is. The fact that dark matter doesn't interact with electromagnetic radiation, or light, means that it can't be composed of electrons, protons, and neutrons, the particles that make up the atoms that compose stars, planets, moons, our bodies, and everything we see around us on a day-to-day basis.

This has spurred on the search for new types of particles beyond the limits of the so-called Standard Model of Particle Physics. So far, this search has been frustratingly fruitless — but the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment may have finally caught a glimpse.