Q&A: Inside the search for dark matter

Dark matter is an invisible substance that makes up 85% of the matter of the universe.

It's visible through gravitational effects it has on nearby galaxies and observed in patterns in the cosmic microwave background.

Scientists are trying to create dark matter in laboratories by simulating conditions similar to the Big Bang .

The two strongest candidates for dark matter have long been WIMPs and axions.

The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment, for instance, has an inner detector that is about 1.5 meters in diameter.

For our future project, we're envisioning a detector that's 3 to 4 meters tall.

Scaling up requires meticulous improvements to be ten times the amount we're currently working with.

The rise of quantum computing has made these experiments more feasible, and axion searches are advancing rapidly. Akerib: We're leading multiple efforts at the lab to improve dark matter searches and explore a range of possibilities. It's an expanded search portfolio—attacking the problem from all angles. As we keep advancing, dark matter will have an increasingly hard time hiding from SLAC . Provided by SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryThis story was originally published on Phys.org . Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest sci-tech news updates..