Possible Sighting of Dark Matter Lights Up Physics Community
Dark Matter Detector Juan Collar, associate professor in physics at the University of Chicago, holds one of the early germanium detector prototypes similar to the one being used in the Coherent Germanium Neutrino Technology (CoGeNT) experiment, situated nearly half a mile deep in the Soudan Mine in Minnesota. Such underground locations help screen out false dark-matter signals from other natural sources of radiation. Detectors of this kind are used because of their sensitivity to weak levels of radiation. CoGeNT CollaborationSeasonal variation in data indicates that mysterious dark matter may have been under our noses all along Summertime may be the right time for unmasking dark matter. Researchers working on a dark matter experiment buried half a mile underground in a Minnesota mine say they've seen seasonally varying blips in electrical pulses that may be the telltale signs of WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles. If they're accurate, the new findings would...
