Physicists have detected a particle of dark matter for the first time in human history, a number of U.S laboratories announced today. Should the findings be confirmed it will have an Earth-shattering effect on our understanding of how galaxies form. Dark matter is believed to make up 90 per cent of the mass of the Universe. We can't see it but scientists think it is there due to the gravitational force it exerts.

It could help account for the 'missing mass' in the Universe that would explain why galaxies rotate at their current speeds. An experiment half-a-mile down a Minnesota mine has focused on finding Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), which are thought to make up dark matter.<:od>

The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) is using 30 ultra-cold germanium and silicon detectors far away from the hail of cosmic rays that strike Earth every day. It is believed the crystals will vibrate if struck by a WIMP. Now head of CDMS Dan Bauer said they have spotted two particles with all the expected characteristics of dark matter.

The physicist cautions, however, that there’s about a one in four chance that ordinary subatomic particles, rather than dark matter, could account for the signals.

The Large Hadron Collider is expected to create Big Bang conditions next month. It is hoped the accelerator will create dark matter particles

Theorist Craig Hogan from the University of Chicago said the finds are 'potentially very exciting. He said three or four more WIMP-like interactions recorded over the next few years by the experiment, would constitute proof of dark matter. 'That would be a huge transformation in how we do science,' Dr Hogan said. 'We would have a new form of matter to study.'

The detectors are being upgraded with three times as much germanium making detections more likely.




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