• Question: what does dark matter look like and how much is in the universe?

    Asked by trolololo to Anouk, Chris, Judith, Leisha, Seyyed on 14 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Chris Kettle

      Chris Kettle answered on 14 Jun 2012:

      I haven’t a clue – in Futurama it is an interesting design!

    • Photo: Seyyed Shah

      Seyyed Shah answered on 14 Jun 2012:

      Scientists think that about 84% of the matter in the Universe is dark matter. You can read more about dark matter on wikipedia or the the BBC website.

      Because no one has really detected dark matter, but we think that it exists, we don’t really know what it would look like. If it is there, we won’t be able to see it by eye. But, scientists might be able to find out about the properties of dark matter through using instruments and specialised equipment.

    • Photo: Judith Sleeman

      Judith Sleeman answered on 14 Jun 2012:

      No idea! But it does amaze me that people are looking for something that they’re not sure exists and they don’t even know what they’re expecting it to look like. How will they know when they find it?

      I suppose it’s a bit like what Seyyed does in analysing protein structures: they can’t be seen directly, but can be worked out by looking at the effect they have on x-rays and so on (hope I have that close to right, Seyyed, feel free to correct me if not!). I find that all a bit sci-fi as well, to be honest!

    • Photo: Anouk Gouvras

      Anouk Gouvras answered on 14 Jun 2012:

      Well I think Seyyed has covered this pretty well 🙂

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