Found signs of dark matter

A state-of-the-art device on the International Space Station has found evidence of the existence of dark matter, which binds the universe to a mass of scientific circles never seen.

The European Atomic Research Organization (CERN) reports that Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) , the name of the machine capable of detecting dark matter, has detected strange physical phenomena, the AP reported.

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) device on Air Station
International space detects many positron particles. (Photo: NASA)

Since AMS began tracking energy particles in the universe, it detected about 400,000 positrons - a charged subatomic particle. 400,000 is a pretty big number compared to the scientific prediction. Therefore, they predict they are created when dark matter particles collide and destroy each other.

However, collisions between dark matter particles are not the only phenomenon that can produce positrons. They can also come from neutron stars (or pulsars). So scientists will have to identify the positron particles that AMS detected from dark matter or pulsar.

Data from AMS is a remarkable result, because in astrophysics, dark matter is a hypothetical material in the universe, with ingredients that humans do not know. Physicists believe that dark matter is what makes the connection between objects in the universe. It accounts for 84% of the cosmic composition and is present around people. But we cannot see dark matter because it does not produce or reflect light.

Samuel Ting, team leader of data analysis from CERN's AMS, hopes that he and his colleagues will find specific answers about abnormal phenomena within a few months.

AMS, with a mass of up to 7 tons and contains a circular magnet (91cm diameter) at the core, was built at a cost of two billion dollars. It transmitted data about CERN's headquarters on the French-Swiss border. The machine will continue to seek antimatter and dark matter in the coming years (at least until 2020). About 600 scientists in Geneva are and will analyze data from AMS. Ting, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher, directed their data analysis activities.