Dark Matter — The Greatest Mystery of The Universe | VICE on HBO

Summary

The script delves into humanity's quest to explore the cosmos, focusing on the Very Large Telescope and the Large Underground Xenon Experiment (LUX) as tools to unravel the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy. It explains the concept of dark matter as an unseen force that binds galaxies and the role of dark energy in the accelerating expansion of the universe. The video also highlights the technological advancements and scientific discoveries that have emerged from our pursuit to understand these cosmic phenomena, emphasizing the continuous nature of scientific inquiry and its potential to innovate and improve our lives.

Takeaways

• 🌌 Telescopes like the Very Large Telescope (VLT) allow us to explore the universe and answer fundamental questions about its origins and nature.
• 🔍 The VLT is the most advanced optical observatory, enabling us to look back over 13 billion years into the past.
• 🌌 95% of the universe's composition remains unaccounted for, with only 5% of matter being visible and following known laws of physics.
• 🌐 The existence of dark matter is inferred from the gravitational effects it has on galaxies, preventing them from flying apart despite the forces acting upon them.
• 🔬 The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment is designed to detect dark matter by using an ultra-quiet environment deep underground to shield from cosmic rays.
• 🌌 The Milky Way's rotation suggests the presence of dark matter, as there would need to be nearly ten times more matter than currently observed for the observed rotation to occur.
• 🔍 Dark matter particles, known as WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles), are expected to pass through Earth with minimal interaction.
• 🔬 The LUX experiment uses a dual-tank system filled with purified water and supercooled liquid xenon to detect potential dark matter interactions.
• 🌐 The search for dark matter has led to the discovery of dark energy, a force that is causing the universe's expansion to accelerate.
• 🌌 The Very Large Telescope array in Chile played a crucial role in identifying dark energy by observing distant supernovae and their implications on the universe's expansion.
• 🌐 The understanding of dark matter and dark energy could potentially revolutionize physics, similar to how Newton's laws and Einstein's theories of relativity transformed our understanding of motion and energy.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the Very Large Telescope?

The Very Large Telescope is the most advanced optical observatory in the world, allowing us to gaze 13 billion years into the past and answer fundamental questions about the universe's origins, composition, and future.

What percentage of the universe's composition is currently unaccounted for?

95% of the universe's composition cannot be accounted for with the current understanding of physics, while the remaining 5% of matter we can perceive abides by the known laws of physics.

What is dark matter and why is it significant?

Dark matter is a mysterious type of particle that exerts a gravitational force, binding galaxies together. It is significant because it helps explain why galaxies do not fly apart due to the forces of rotation.

What is the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment and its purpose?

The LUX experiment is the world's most sensitive dark matter detector, designed to search for dark matter by providing a quiet environment deep underground to shield from cosmic rays and detect weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs).

Why is the LUX experiment located a mile beneath the ground?

The experiment is placed deep underground to find a quiet environment free from cosmic rays, which are produced in the upper atmosphere and could interfere with the detection of dark matter particles.

What are WIMPs and how do they interact with the environment?

WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles, are hypothetical particles that make up dark matter. They are called 'weakly interacting' because they rarely interact with other matter, passing through the Earth with minimal interaction.

How does the search for dark matter at CERN differ from the LUX experiment?

At CERN, scientists use the Large Hadron Collider to recreate conditions similar to those of the Big Bang, attempting to produce and detect dark matter particles through high-energy collisions of protons.

What is the connection between dark matter research and the discovery of dark energy?

The search for an explanation of the observed rotation speeds of galaxies led to the discovery of dark matter, and further observations of supernovae revealed the existence of dark energy, an unknown force causing the universe's expansion to accelerate.

What is the significance of the discovery of dark energy?

Dark energy is significant because it challenges our understanding of gravity and the universe's expansion. Its discovery implies that there is a force causing the universe to expand at an accelerating rate, contrary to what would be expected with gravity alone.

How has the technology developed for understanding the universe impacted our daily lives?

Technological advancements made for space exploration and understanding the universe, such as the invention of the World Wide Web at CERN, have led to innovations that have become integral to our daily lives, improving communication and data analysis.

What is the role of asking big questions in scientific innovation?

Asking big questions drives scientific innovation by pushing the boundaries of knowledge and inspiring the development of new technologies and methods to explore and understand complex phenomena, such as dark matter and dark energy.

Outlines

00:00

🔭 The Quest for Dark Matter

The first paragraph introduces the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced optical observatory, as a metaphorical spaceship that allows us to explore the universe and peer 13 billion years into the past. It discusses the mystery of the universe's composition, where 95% of it remains unaccounted for, known as dark matter. This invisible force is hypothesized to bind galaxies together, contrary to what would be expected based on the visible matter and the laws of physics. The paragraph also touches on the Large Underground Xenon Experiment (LUX), a highly sensitive dark matter detector, and explains the need for a quiet environment to shield from cosmic rays, which could interfere with the detection of dark matter.

05:06

🌌 Unraveling the Secrets of the Universe

The second paragraph delves into the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, where scientists attempt to recreate conditions similar to those of the Big Bang to study particles at an unprecedented level. The LHC is used to search for dark matter, theorized to be composed of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which rarely interact with ordinary matter. The paragraph also discusses the discovery of dark energy, a force that is causing the universe's expansion to accelerate, and the role of the Very Large Telescope Array in this discovery. It highlights the importance of understanding these fundamental forces and particles, as they may hold the key to answering some of the biggest questions in physics.

10:08

🚀 The Impact of Cosmic Exploration on Innovation

The final paragraph emphasizes the drive for innovation that comes from asking big, challenging questions. It points out that the technology developed for understanding the universe, such as image analysis software, has far-reaching applications, including medical imaging for cancer detection. The paragraph also touches on the invention of the World Wide Web at CERN as an example of how scientific exploration can lead to technologies that become integral to everyday life. It concludes by highlighting the perpetual nature of scientific discovery and the inherent human desire to explore new frontiers, which has been crucial to the success of our species.

Keywords

💡Explorers

Explorers are individuals driven by curiosity to discover new territories or knowledge. In the context of the video, humans are described as explorers at heart, symbolizing our innate desire to understand the universe. The script mentions telescopes as our 'spaceship to the stars,' highlighting how they extend our exploratory capabilities into the cosmos.

💡Very Large Telescope (VLT)

The Very Large Telescope is an advanced optical observatory that allows us to look deep into space and time. The script positions the VLT as a modern tool for cosmic exploration, enabling us to peer '13 billion years or more into the past' and seek answers to fundamental questions about the universe's origin and fate.

💡Dark Matter

Dark Matter is a hypothetical form of matter that does not emit or interact with light but is inferred from its gravitational effects on visible matter. The video script discusses the perplexing nature of dark matter, which 'binds these galaxies together' and is essential for understanding the missing mass in the universe that standard physics cannot account for.

💡Laws of Physics

The laws of physics are the fundamental principles that describe how the universe behaves. The script refers to the 'laws of physics as we understand them,' pointing out the limitations of our current understanding when it comes to phenomena like dark matter and dark energy, which do not conform to these laws.

💡Large Underground Xenon Experiment (LUX)

The LUX is a highly sensitive dark matter detector located deep underground to shield from cosmic rays. The script describes the LUX experiment's purpose and method, emphasizing the need for a 'really quiet environment' to detect the elusive dark matter particles.

💡Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs)

WIMPs are hypothetical particles that are thought to be a leading candidate for dark matter. The script uses the term 'WIMPs' to describe these particles, noting their property of rarely interacting with ordinary matter, which makes them extremely difficult to detect.

💡CERN

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is home to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The script mentions CERN in the context of creating particles that could potentially be dark matter, using the LHC to 'recreate the conditions of the Big Bang' and study fundamental particles.

💡Big Bang

The Big Bang is the prevailing cosmological model for the observable universe's origin. The video script relates the LHC's particle collisions to the conditions of the Big Bang, suggesting that these experiments could help us understand the creation processes of the universe, including the formation of dark matter.

💡Dark Energy

Dark Energy is a mysterious force that is causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate. The script introduces dark energy as 'an entirely different force' from dark matter, noting its role in the universe's expansion and the discovery of its accelerating effect through observations of distant supernovae.

💡Supernovae

Supernovae are the explosive end stages of certain stars, releasing an immense amount of light and energy. The script explains how observations of supernovae were key to the discovery of dark energy, as they provided evidence that the universe's expansion is accelerating.

💡Innovation

Innovation refers to the process of translating an idea or invention into a good or service that creates value. The video script connects the drive to explore and understand the universe with innovation, suggesting that the technology developed to study the cosmos has led to advancements that benefit our daily lives, such as the World Wide Web.

Highlights

Telescopes are our current means of exploring the universe, allowing us to look 13 billion years into the past.

95% of the universe's composition remains unaccounted for, with only 5% of matter following known physics laws.

The existence of dark matter is inferred from the gravitational effects on galaxy rotation, suggesting unseen mass.

The Large Underground Xenon Experiment (LUX) is the world's most sensitive dark matter detector.

Dark matter is hypothesized to be 'WIMPs', weakly interacting massive particles that rarely interact with normal matter.

The LUX experiment uses a large water tank and liquid xenon to detect dark matter particles in a quiet environment.

Despite extensive searches, dark matter particles have not yet been directly detected, suggesting the need for larger detectors.

CERN's Large Hadron Collider recreates conditions of the Big Bang to study particles and potentially produce dark matter.

Dark matter could be a fundamental force of nature, and its discovery could revolutionize physics.

Understanding gravity at a microscopic level is incomplete, and dark matter could provide insights into this.

Dark energy, distinct from dark matter, is a force causing the universe's accelerated expansion.

The discovery of dark energy was made possible by observing supernovae and their unexpected distances.

The Very Large Telescope Array in Chile played a key role in the discovery of dark energy.

Technological advancements from space exploration have practical applications in areas like medical imaging.

The World Wide Web was invented at CERN to facilitate collaboration among scientists and engineers.

The Large Hadron Collider generated over 40 petabytes of data in 2015, offering vast potential for new discoveries.

The search for dark matter and understanding the universe drives innovation and has broad societal impacts.

Exploration of the unknown is a fundamental part of human nature and contributes to our species' success.

Science is a continuous process of discovery and adaptation to new observations.

Transcripts

[Music]

at our heart we humans are explorers and

it's telescopes like these that for now

are our spaceship to the stars

I'm standing here at the Very Large

Telescope which is the most advanced

optical Observatory in the world we can

gaze 13 billion years or more into the

past and answer questions like where it

would come from where are we going and

that most important question what is

this universe that we're living in what

scientists have discovered so far is

that 95% of what makes up our universe

simply can't be accounted for the 5% of

matter we can perceive abides by the

laws of physics as we understand them

but when scientists applied the laws of

gravity to how fast nearby galaxies are

rotating the math to nineveh their

calculations proved that there must be

missing matter since the forces should

be ripping the galaxies apart but they

don't the reason is because of a

mysterious type of particle known as

dark matter an invisible force which

binds these galaxies together

I believe that if we can solve this

mystery it may transform physics as we

know it in the same way that Isaac

Newton's laws of motion let's steam

locomotives and rockets and Albert

Einstein's theories of relativity paved

the way for satellites and nuclear power

and that has physicists scrambling to

find it we're gonna be using the page in

order to take a 10-minute long trip to

get ourselves over a mile on the ground

[Music]

Richard Gaitskell is the principal

investigator here at the large

underground xenon experiment or Lux the

world's most sensitive Dark Matter

detector why are we going down a mile

beneath the ground here in order to

search for Dark Matter we need to find a

really quiet environment cosmic rays are

produced in the upper atmosphere due to

very high-energy particles hitting it

what we do is we use that overburden the

rock to shield out the cosmic rays when

you take our Milky Way and just look at

how the stars are arranged in it it's

very clear that the whole thing is

rotating in order for that rotation to

be occurring at the speed it is it would

have to be nearly ten times more matter

in the Milky Way than we had any

evidence for the Milky Way shouldn't

hold together it should just fly apart

and the particles we're looking for

these dark matter we actually call them

wimps it's an acronym simply for weakly

interacting massive particles by week we

mean that they will simply pass through

the earth and out through the other side

only very occasionally because of the

properties of the wimp does it choose to

interact right now we're actually

standing on top of this enormous 80

thousand gallon water tank well I

thought another detector

Luntz Dark Matter detector is submerged

within this tank of highly purified

water inside a second tank is filled

with supercooled liquid xenon if a Dark

Matter particle strikes a xenon atom in

this ultra quiet environment the photo

sensors will measure this mysterious

particle so we've been looking for these

weakly interacting massive particles for

a very long time what have we found

nothing theorists continue to show that

dark matter could well be there and just

be so we can directly interact that we

haven't yet built a big enough detector

to see it people would dearly like to be

the first scientist to be standing on

top of an experiment that actually saw

mystery I mean without a doubt since we

can't capture this elusive particle in

Switzerland are actually trying to make

it themselves CERN's Large Hadron

Collider actually recreates the

conditions of the Big Bang to study

particles on an unprecedented level

dr. Tulley caboose has sifted through

the data produced by the collider

looking for dark matter characteristics

this is where the heart of the

experiment is you have a beam of protons

going in one of the beam pipes in a

certain direction and another beam of

protons going in the other beam pipe in

the opposite direction

there are four points where the beam

pipes are made to intersect and that is

happening in the center of the detection

here so the beams collide and you have

this explosion a mess of particles that

comes out and what we are trying to see

as a result of this is what are these

particles that are produced what we are

doing is with these collisions

recreating what must have happened

moments after the Big Bang I mean these

are kind of little moments of creation

that are happening inside these

detectors every time that beam of

protons collide we can theorize that

dark matter came out of the same

processes the same creation out of

BIGBANG that everything else was made

out of so I guess if you're able to

recreate the Big Bang in a way in these

detectors you'll also be able to produce

darkness and that is one of our major

goals will the biggest machine in the

world to sort of understand the tiniest

of particles because they will give us

clues to the big questions if they

manage to find new particles it could

prove the missing link of a fundamental

force of nature that most people assume

we understand gravity so I think most of

us think we have a pretty good

understanding of gravity I mean we see

how it works in our everyday lives and

planets rotate around the Sun and you

know galaxies continue to spin and

spiral but what's missing about this

picture of gravity what what don't we

know so we understand gravity at the

macroscopic level and sense off you know

it keeps us you know on this floor

surrounded here however we don't really

at the microscopic or the particle level

so the depart achill picture of gravity

and how it fits into the standard model

is incomplete potentially these answers

could bridge us to words answering the

question of dark energy the search for

an answer to the mystery of dark matter

led to an even bigger discovery dark

energy dark matter has the gravitational

effect of holding galaxies together but

dark energy is actually an entirely

different force that is expanding the

universe seemingly infinitely outward

the very large telescope array and Chile

was key to the discovery of this even

more mysterious force this telescope can

see down to 29th magnitude Wow so that's

a factor of a billion so if your eye

collects one Photon this thing collects

a billion photos brutal lymangood was a

member of one of the Nobel Prize winning

teams that shocked the world when they

discovered that not only was the

universe expanding this expansion was

actually accelerating

the way you found this dark energy this

acceleration of the universe was you

looked at supernovae yeah

what are supernovae so supernovae are

exploding stars that that gets to sit

this way of putting it that is a very

specific type of explosion which we

believe almost reaches the same

luminosity so it becomes bright Peaks

and then it fades away disappears if you

have your 60 volt bulb in your room

you know how much light that's gonna get

if you see the 60 watt bulb at your

neighbors it's gonna be fainter and if

you have a universe that just expands

regularly then you just plot this up on

a ruler and you will find an equal

distance but then we did the measurement

this isn't right the distant supernovae

are too far away

so yes the universe is expanding but it

looked like it was expanding even faster

the further you looked away now in a

universe with gravity alone you cannot

do that yeah what explains that so what

explains that well dargah - what is that

composer what is that

you tell me that's the question we'd

each answer back and while dark energy

and dark matter may not weigh on

people's minds each day we're actually

already benefitting from them by more

than just their gravitational poles

that's because the enormous amount of

technology that has been developed in

order to aid scientists as they seek to

better understand the universe has led

to incredible advancements that we now

take for granted in our everyday lives

so the world wide web was actually

invented here at CERN as a way for the

scientists and engineers to collaborate

and communicate and build these massive

physics experiments in 2015 the

experiments on the Large Hadron Collider

generated over 40 petabytes were the

data that's 40 billion gigabytes worth

of data and who knows what discoveries

and impacts on our lives will come from

the sifting through of the data to

discover things like dark matter and the

fundamental forces and particles that

make up our universe

[Music]

there's really no better driver of

innovation than just asking really

really big hard questions we use image

analysis software to see galaxies or

stars and now you use them to find

cancer in my question is how do I

understand dark energy better somebody

maybe will use that knowledge and

develop something different that makes

our lives better

[Music]

it's in the DNA of our species to

explore new frontiers this exploration

of the unknown is responsible for the

success of our species and by better

understanding our universe we empower

ourselves to solve the problems we face

and propel ourselves into the Stars

science is never finished when you have

new observations that show you something

else then you have to modify your

picture

science will go on forever because

there's always something new to discover

that's right

[Music]