Tales from the darkside

The term ‘dark matter’ has become a favourite of sci-fi, appearing in numerous books, TV shows and films. But what is it? Professor Alex Murphy and Professor Martin Hendry sit down to discuss the significance of this from Shetland.

Well, the honest answer is that we don’t know, and it might not even exist. But if it does – and most scientists think it does exist – then we have some pretty good ideas for what it might be.

Most importantly, it would be a genuinely new form of matter and may be the key to unlocking a deeper understanding of the universe and how it works.

Around the world, using particle accelerators, space telescopes and ultra-sensitive detectors in deep underground laboratories, the search is on to find dark matter.