In the News: "Dark Matter" and the Universe
It was described as “the most powerful search yet for the Universe’s missing matter” (Brumfiel, 2004). Scientists have been hard at work, trying to identify “dark matter” that can help explain why the Universe behaves the way it does. Past observations revealed that the Universe was expanding in such a manner that the physical matter of which we were aware could not explain the results we were seeing. Scientists concluded that we must be missing a “vital component.” Thus, the search for this vital component—dark matter—was launched.
The latest effort, however, has also come up empty handed. Reporting on the most recent failed attempt to detect dark matter, science writer Geoff Brumfiel noted:
The new detector is four times more sensitive than any previous experiment. To shield it from high-energy particles from outer space, the machine is based 700 metres underground in an abandoned iron mine in Soudan, Minnesota. The detector is also chilled to within a tenth of a degree of absolute zero to reduce vibrations from surrounding molecules.
Brumfiel went on to comment:
The detector itself consists of sensors attached to six germanium and silicon crystals. If a particle strikes one of the crystals, it causes the crystal to ring like a bell, and the sensors detect vibrations.
The test began looking for a type of theoretical particles called weakly interactive massive particles (WIMPS) in November 2003. However, it has yet to record even a single WIMP. These results are in direct contradiction of a less-sensitive dark matter detector based at the National Laboratory of Gran Sasso, Italy. That detector has been active since 1996, with researchers suspecting they may have detected WIMPS in the past.
Harry Nelson, a physicist at the University of California, Santa Barbara asserted “CDMSII isn’t exerting an annoying pressure on theorists yet. But they’re starting to feel it” (as quoted in Brumfiel, 2004). Evolutionists insist that dark matter (and dark energy) must exist—because otherwise, people might suspect that a Supernatural Creator played a role in creating the Universe—an option that no self-respecting evolutionist can stomach.
REFERENCE
Brumfiel, Geoff (2004), “Particle No-Show Pans Former Find,” Science Update, [On-line], URL: http://www.nature.com/nsu/040503/040503-7.html.