Dark Energy Detection

Dark energy, the mysterious form of energy that makes up about 68% of the universe, has intrigued physicists and astronomers for decades. Dark energy has been noted as 'the most profound mystery in all of science'. With advanced technologies and newer experiments, scientists have found certain clues about it and an international team of researchers made the first putative direct detection of dark energy. They noticed certain unexpected results in an underground experiment and write that dark energy may be responsible for it. The XENON1T experiment is the world’s most sensitive dark matter experiment and was operated deep underground at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. The finding also suggests that experiments like XENON1T, which are designed to detect dark matter, could also be used to detect dark energy. Everything we see – the planets, moons, massive galaxies, you, me, this website – makes up less than 5% of the universe. About 27% is dark matter and 68% is dark energy. While dark matter attracts and holds galaxies together, dark energy repels and causes the expansion of our universe. In chameleon theories dark energy is assumed to be made up of hypothetical particles called chameleons, which could be produced in the Sun — just like the axions in the XENON1T model. Upcoming upgrades to the XENON1T experiment and similar experiments such as LUX-Zeplin – a next generation dark matter experiment located at the Sanford Underground Research Facility, and PandaX-xT – another project at China Jinping Underground Laboratory could help directly detect dark energy within the next decade.

Did you know that your brain just might be more like an antenna than a thought generating device? Learn how to use your brain to 'change channels' when you're not feeling well, and immediately tap into dark energy.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/d8oVY30g4cA

Dark Energy Explorer

Dark energy makes the whole universe expand faster and faster! But what causes this spectacular process? Join NASA’s newest citizen science project, Dark Energy Explorers, and help figure out this puzzle. At Dark Energy Explorers, you’ll look through images of distant galaxies and other data to help build a map of the universe, focusing on the region about 10 billion light years away. The images come from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment, based at The University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory. Various explanations for dark energy predict different changes in the expansion rate. Those changes will affect the map in different ways—so your work will help astrophysicists use the map to sort through the possibilities.



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