Name: Shedding light on dark matter
Uploaded: 2008-08-17T18:12:00Z
Duration: 15 min 49 s
Description: Physicist Patricia Burchat sheds light on two basic ingredients of our universe: dark matter and dark energy. Comprising 96% of the universe between them, they can't be directly measured, but their influence is immense.

Physicist Patricia Burchat sheds light on two basic ingredients of our universe: dark matter and dark energy. Comprising 96% of the universe between them, they can't be directly measured, but their influence is immense.

Shedding light on dark matter

Ordinary matter, the kind that forms stars, planets, and people, makes up just a tiny fraction of the universe. The rest consists of dark matter and dark energy, mysterious entities that cannot be directly seen or measured yet control the universe's structure and fate. Evidence for dark matter comes from galaxy motions and gravitational lensing, while dark energy is revealed by the accelerating expansion of space. Together, these unseen ingredients account for 96% of everything, challenging scientists to find new ways of understanding reality.