AT YOUR EXPENSE.Patrick Huber, a physicist with a penchant for bold ideas, is leading a team that’s trying to find the missing 95 percent.
Instead of using massive telescopes or particle accelerators, they’re looking for this dark matter in billion-year-old rocks right here on Earth.
Based at Virginia Tech, Huber and his collaborators are on an unconventional quest to detect dark matter by examining ancient minerals deep within the Earth.
They’re building a new lab to test their theories, backed by significant funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
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“It’s crazy. When I first heard about this idea, I was like — this is insane. I want to do it,” Huber said.
He’s stepping out of his comfort zone as a theoretical physicist to dive into experimental work. “Other people in their midlife crisis might take a mistress or get a sports car. I got a lab,” he joked.
We should have just pitched in and given him a sports car ... and saved millions.The new lab being built at Robeson Hall is a hub for innovation. With $3.5 million from the National Science Foundation and an additional $750,000 from the National Nuclear Security Administration, the project is well-resourced to tackle its ambitious goals.
And, of course, he’s now hedging on his sales pitch to NSF and NNSA …
... and wasting millions of YOUR dollars while they ... PLAY.While the hunt for dark matter is the primary focus, the team is open to wherever the research leads them.
“Science doesn’t always give you what you expect,” Huber remarked. “Sometimes, you set out to answer one question and end up discovering something entirely different.”
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It’s a big “if,” but Huber and his team are undeterred. “We’re venturing into the unknown,” he said. “But that’s where the most exciting discoveries are made.”
To sum it all up, Patrick Huber and his team are taking a wild swing at one of physics’ biggest mysteries by digging into ancient rocks.
Just saying ...