Scientists are embarking on a desperate hunt to find the source of dark matter

Scientists are trying to work out the source of dark matter.

A group want to house a giant international particle detector that would be built 3,000ft underground in a working mine in Boulby, North Yorkshire to find the cause of the mysterious space matter.

“We are entering the last-chance saloon to show that these particles are the cause of dark matter, and we want to make sure Britain is at the heart of that work by building the final generation of these detectors,” physicist Professor Chamkaur Ghag of University College London told the Observer.

Scientists know the universe contains more matter than can be seen directly because they can see galaxies held together in clusters when they should be flying apart. Extra mass must be generating more gravity and holding these galaxies together,

Most researchers think particles called weakly interacting massive particles – Wimps - are the source of dark matter. But these Wimps are hard to detect so scientists are trying to have a proper stab at it by combining resources and working in one Yorkshire site.

“And what we are striving to do in Britain is to get it built at Boulby. Essentially, we want the last-chance saloon for Wimps to be built in the UK,” said Ghag.

Dark matter accounts for around 85 per cent of the universe’s mass.There are also mines in South Dakota, and near Rome in Italy that are also hunting for Wimps which could provide answers.

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