Researchers may have spotted the first signs of a dark matter particle. If the result is confirmed, it could be one of the most monumental discoveries in the history of physics. Dark matter makes up about 85 per cent of the universe, but for decades physicists have been unable to determine what it itself is made of. Hypotheses have ranged from different sorts of particles and forces to strangely behaving gravity and everything in between – but the leading idea has always been that of the weakly interacting massive particle, or WIMP. As we have built more and more powerful detectors to search for WIMPs, though, their failure to show up has led many to doubt their existence and move on to more exotic ideas.
That doubt may soon come to an end. A new analysis of data from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment in South Dakota has revealed a single particle that may be the first WIMP ever detected. “This result is certainly an exciting one, because it provides some potential positive hint for what dark matter could be, not just what dark matter could not be,” says JiJi Fan at Brown University in Rhode Island, who wasn’t part of the analysis.
LZ looks for dark matter using a 7-tonne tank of liquid xenon, surrounded by several layers of shielding and buried more than a kilometre down to keep out other types of particles. When an outside particle hits a xenon atom, it creates a tiny burst of light that is measured by sensitive detectors surrounding the tank. Researchers can then use that light to reconstruct the path of the incoming particle and the energy level of the interaction.
In the search for WIMPs, we generally look for events with energies below about 30 kiloelectronvolts (keV), says LZ spokesperson Richard Gaitskell, also at Brown University. That assumes the simplest sort of interaction, in which the WIMP is essentially bouncing off an individual nucleon in the xenon nucleus. Having not found any hints of WIMPs in that energy range, the LZ team decided to reanalyse the first 220 days of data from the detector, searching for events with higher energies. That is where they found their dark matter particle candidate, at about 248 keV. “You must never make an assumption that nature is going to do something the easy way,” says Gaitskell. “Nobody can accuse our universe of making the simplest and most natural-seeming choices.”
A WIMP Detector
In particle physics, the statistical threshold for a finding to go from an intriguing hint to a solid discovery is a number called 5 sigma, which means there is about a 1-in-3.5 million chance that a signal like this would show up as a fluke rather than a true sign of dark matter. Right now, this detection from LZ sits at 2.6 sigma, which means that there is about a 1-in-200 chance it could appear as a fluke.
That might still seem fairly secure, but in the search for dark matter it is far from enough. “In science we sit down and we do so many damned experiments, I’m afraid you come across a 1-in-100 event fairly often,” says Gaitskell.
Back in my biology days we were pretty happy with a 2.5 sigma result, provided you had done adequate correction for multiple tests. Still, basing the result on the alleged detection of a single WIMP seems a little sketchy. Your not going to get very good statistics with n=1. That is certainly a weakly interacting particle.
This will be the last flotsam and jetsam for a while. Going out of town, and the county, up to Canukistan for a boys only fishing trip with Pete and a bunch of fish fanatics. Internet is likely to be sketchy, although Pete and one other guy have promised to bring Star Links. Hopefully, though, I'll be able to post some big fish pics. But don't worry, to keep you coming I've preloaded some morning eye-openers.
On Wednesday, a judge in Annapolis handed Maryland Democrats a rare loss in a year when they usually get whatever they draw up. Democrats already hold seven of the state's eight congressional seats, 87.5 percent of the delegation, and Gov. Wes Moore called a special session in August hoping to grab the last one too. The judge said not so fast, at least for the November ballot. The state filed its appeal within hours. This fight is not over. But the ruling is worth sitting with, because it says something true about how power actually behaves. It never volunteers to share.
If they take away the last Republican seat, do I get to stop paying state taxes? No taxes with representation, after all.
There was a decent low tide, and lots of stuff to look though, and I found 23
shark's teeth. As they say in the Russian Army, quantity has a quality of its
own.
However, I did find a few quality teeth, 4 nice Snaggletooths, 2 upper and 2
lower, a small Retroflexus Mako, a tiny Sand Tiger, a mostly complete
stingray chevron, and a larger than usual piece of stingray barb.
From yesterday - a new butterfly on my list! A Tawny Emperor.
From Ace, Trump Announces Truly Huge Deal to... Take Over 65 Billion Barrels' Worth of Venezuela's Oil Reserves?! Why would they do this? Because successive socialist governments have, get this, run the oil industry into the ground. They did not do basic maintenance and never bothered to upgrade and modernize their infrastructure. They have billions of barrels of oil they never invested any money in so the oil remains underground. The socialists, if you can believe this, simply extracted oil (and embezzled the money) while doing nothing to safeguard the future health of the industry. So Venezuela needs outside help to do the most basic things. Let's elect socialists in America to work the same Economic Miracles! I don't know if I like this. Venezuela has a nasty habit of repudiating past agreements and "nationalizing" -- stealing -- foreign investments in their oil industry."
This is the most incredible shot/chaser I've seen. In 2015 this communist
lauds Canada for infinity immigration, saying it drives GDP. 11 years later,
he's freaking out about Canada's GDP falling off a cliff, asking "what
happened in 2015???" Stupid-smart people strike again!
pic.twitter.com/3KC2KIK4sA
A truly one-of-a-kind artist, Kaitlin Butts has a deep affinity for country music’s more theatrical side: the extravagant storytelling, dazzling showmanship, songs embedded with both unbridled emotion and quick-fire humor. After discovering her passion for performing as a little girl, the Tulsa native later brought her boundless energy and radiant voice to her own unapologetic yet soulful songwriting. When it came time to create her third album, the Nashville-based musician leaned into her lifelong love of musical theater and dreamed up a modern-day reimagining of the soundtrack to her all-time favorite musical, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! The result: a high-concept but candidly autobiographical LP called Roadrunner!, whose 17 powerhouse songs show the full force and extraordinary depth of Butts’ artistry for the very first time.
“Every summer when I was a kid my parents would take me to see a performance of Oklahoma! at a local amphitheater, and I’ve felt such a strong connection to it my entire life,” says Butts, who first conceptualized Roadrunner! during a pandemic rewatching of the film with her husband, Flatland Cavalry frontman Cleto Cordero. “It’s a love story but there’s also a murder and a little bit of an acid-trippy feel to it at times; it’s set in the same place where I come from. Once I got the idea for this album I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before, and it turned into something that completely encompasses who I am and what I love.”
