How DNA Can Help in the Search for Dark Matter

An exotic DNA-based detector could spot dark matter and the direction in space it came from, say researchers.

The Physics arXiv Blog iconThe Physics arXiv Blog
By The Physics arXiv Blog
May 31, 2021 1:36 PMJun 1, 2021 5:33 PM
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(Credit: Giovanni Benintende/Shutterstock)

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The XENON1T dark matter experiment consists of a giant vat of liquid xenon in an underground chamber beneath the Gran Sasso mountain in Italy. Its task is to search for evidence of dark matter that astronomers cannot see but think fills the universe.

Because the Solar System is moving rapidly through the universe, the Earth ought to be ploughing through this ocean of dark matter. So any dark matter collisions inside XENON1T should come from our direction of travel.

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