Dark Matter And Bubbles: Scientists Take A New Approach At Solving An Old Mystery

In the ongoing race to identify dark matter, scientists from the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory have joined forces in an experiment that, in an increasingly complex field of physics, seems almost quaint.

By maintaining a 30-liter chamber of 132 pounds of purified water and CF31, an ingredient used in fire extinguishers, at a temperature and pressure just above boiling in a chamber more than a mile underground, scientists hope to identify the presence of dark matter through the eruption of any bubbles.

The way it works, the group explains, is that by conducting the experiment so deep underground, as well as submerging it in 7,000 gallons of water, few known particles will have access to the chamber. And while some non-dark matter particles will still find their way in, the researchers have installed sophisticated methods in an attempt to screen out false-positive signals.

According to NASA, an estimated 5 percent of the Universe is comprised of “normal” matter, whereas dark matter is believed to make up as much as a quarter as inferred by its gravitational effects on visible matter; in fact, scientists believe dark matter is the reason galaxies don’t fly apart.

Despite this pervasiveness, however, the substance remains undetectable outside of its gravitational pull.

Other experiments currently underway to identify dark matter include another project located deep underground, in this case the state of Minnesota, where researchers believe they may have identified dark matter in observing the nuclei of atoms in a detector held at temperatures near that of deep space, and as far above ground on the International Space Station where a team of scientists recently announced a measurement of an excess of positrons in the cosmic ray flux.