IAS Gyan

Daily News Analysis

Dark Energy and Dark Matter            

21st September, 2021 Science and Technology

 

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Context

  • A new study, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge and reported in the journal Physical Review D, suggests that some unexplained results from the XENON1T experiment in Italy may have been caused by dark energy, and not the dark matter the experiment was designed to detect.

 

About

  • Dark energy is the name given to the mysterious force that’s causing the rate of expansion of our universe to accelerate over time, rather than to slow down.
  • Dark matter is a component of the universe whose presence is discerned from its gravitational attraction rather than its luminosity.
  • Unlike normal matter, dark matter does not interact with the electromagnetic force.
  • This means it does not absorb, reflect or emit light, making it extremely hard to spot.
  • In fact, researchers have been able to infer the existence of dark matter only from the gravitational effect it seems to have on visible matter.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210915135120.htm