Does dark matter still matter?

CrowdScience

BBC

Science

4.8 • 985 Ratings

🗓️ 21 January 2022

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Scientists have been searching for dark matter for decades, and think there’s six times more of it in the universe than the stuff we can actually see, like stars and planets. But they still don’t know what it is. So how can we be sure dark matter really exists? And why does it matter, anyway? Back in 2018, armed with a boiler suit, hard hat and ear defenders, Marnie Chesterton travelled over a kilometre underground into a hot and sweaty mine to see how scientists are valiantly trying to catch some elusive particles – in the hope of settling things once and for all. Several years on we return to the problem, tackling a few more CrowdScience listeners’ questions about dark matter, and hearing whether we’re any closer to uncovering its mysteries. We’re joined in our quest by Dr Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, physicist and author of The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred.

With Professor Malcolm Fairbairn, Dr Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Dr Chamkaur Ghag and Professor Katherine Freese.

Presented by Marnie Chesterton

Produced by Graihagh Jackson and Cathy Edwards

Transcript

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0:00.0	Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of
0:07.0	Happiness Podcast.
0:08.0	For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want
0:14.4	to share that science with you.
0:16.1	And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley.
0:19.4	I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that
0:25.4	calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:40.1	If you can look up there are stars you can see the stars but it's sort of hazy so that's just pollution and London
0:43.0	It means that you can see bright things. It's quite difficult spotting galaxies.
0:45.0	Step on the planets.
0:48.0	This is Crowd Science, the show for Curious Minds from the BBC World Service. You ask us a question and we do our best to answer
0:56.7	it, even if that involves climbing onto a London rooftop on a cold night to try and spot a galaxy.
1:04.0	This is a massive telescope.
1:06.0	This is like the size of a boiler.
1:08.0	Now if you look up there, you'll see a cloud in the middle of the eyepiece.
1:12.0	Yeah. That's the very middle of the eyepiece.
1:12.6	Yeah. That's the very center of the Andromeda Galaxy.
1:15.9	Is Andromeda our closest?
1:17.5	Andrometer is the closest big galaxy.
1:19.8	I'm Marnie Chesterton and I have fond memories of Galaxy Gazing up on that roof back in 2018.
1:26.6	I was with physics professor Malcolm Fairburn from King's College London and he was helping me
1:31.6	with a listener's question about something
	...

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