Check out the Dark Matter Day website for an event near you on Oct. 31.
Fermilab is celebrating Dark Matter Day with a Facebook Live event — underground! On Thursday, Oct. 31, at 10 a.m. CT, visit Fermilab’s Facebook page to hear our scientists chat about their exciting dark matter investigations from one of Fermilab’s underground experimental halls.
The press release below was originally published by the Interactions collaboration.
What keeps galaxies from flying apart? What is the invisible mass that bends light in space? For now, we’re calling it dark matter, and this Oct. 31, laboratories around the world are shining a light on the search for it.
Dark matter doesn’t interact with light but accounts for 85% of all the matter in the universe. It’s completely invisible to us yet distorts space and somehow binds galaxies together —we know it exists only because of its gravitational effect on visible matter.
Dozens of experiments under way around the world are working to better understand dark matter and hopefully detect an interaction. This year, the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded in part for discoveries in theoretical cosmology that contribute to our knowledge of dark matter and its role in the early universe.
Dark matter-themed events are being organized by labs and institutions around the world doing this research. They range from live webcasts with researchers to dark matter scavenger hunts to a Reddit AMA. Find a sortable list at www.darkmatterday.com/events-list.
It’s not too late to host your own event! You can find resources to help you get started at www.darkmatterday.com/event-starter-kit/. If you’re holding a Dark Matter-themed event, you can register them at www.darkmatterday.com/submit-event/.
Sponsored by the Interactions Collaboration, an international community of particle physics communication specialists, the first Dark Matter Day took place on Tuesday, October 31, 2017. The goal of Dark Matter Day is to celebrate the work being done and share this cosmic puzzle with audiences worldwide.
Explore the Dark Matter Day website, www.darkmatterday.com, to learn more and find an event near you.