How are scientists trying to detect dark matter particles directly, according to In Our Time?

The panel described three approaches. Detectors in underground mines wait for a rare head-on collision between a WIMP and an atomic nucleus, seen as a tiny temperature change or a single flash of light. CERN's Large Hadron Collider might create the particles, though Anne Green said that alone would not prove they make up the dark matter in galaxies. Space instruments look for gamma rays and antimatter from WIMPs annihilating each other.

• NASA's Fermi satellite data have prompted claims that the Milky Way's centre glows in gamma rays from dark matter.
• AMS-02 on the International Space Station may have seen excess positrons, but pulsars or supernovae could explain them.

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on In Our Time (2026-10-26). Read the whole episode summary →

▸More from this episode