Dark-matter detector has new home in South Dakota

Dark-matter detector has new home in South Dakota

LEAD, S.D. (AP) — Scientists in Lead have moved the world’s most sensitive dark-matter detector to its new home a mile beneath the earth.

Case Western Reserve University Physics Professor Tom Shutt says it was a painstakingly slow two-day move from the earth’s surface down to a cavern within the now-closed Homestake Gold Mine. It’s been revamped into the state-of-the-art Sanford underground laboratory.

The Large Underground Xenon detector, known as LUX, is meant to detect elusive matter that scientists can’t see but believe make up about 25 percent of the universe. If the matter is discovered, scientists say it could help explain the origins of the universe.

Yale Professor Dan McKinsey says the detector will be cooled to -100 degrees centigrade in October. Data should start flowing by December.