Shining a light on dark matter
The quest to solve one of the biggest mysteries in the Universe
We know now that five-sixths of the matter in the Universe is made up of some mysterious material that we cannot see or touch. We are surrounded by this strange ‘dark matter’ at all times.
It is passing through us right now and we have almost no idea what it is. There are various different ideas about what the dark matter might be and various experiments around the world attempting to detect it directly.
About the lecture
Dr Ben McAllister from Swinburne will share the history of and evidence for dark matter, the major candidates to explain it, and the leading experiments to detect it.
We will pay particular attention to the Oscillating Resonant Group AxioN (ORGAN) experiment – a major Australian dark matter detection effort – and discuss the recent developments of a new ORGAN detector located in Melbourne.
About our speaker
Dr Ben McAllister is a scientist and science communicator based in Melbourne. He works at Swinburne University of Technology and The University of Western Australia.
His scientific work covers dark matter and quantum technologies. As a communicator, he produces science radio and podcast content, and loves to talk about cool science to anyone who will listen.
Registrations are not required to attend this lecture.
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