The Dark Universe: Why we're about to solve the biggest mystery in science

[Judi Lynn]

A researcher searching for the missing part in our theory of matter reveals how we'll find it.

Prof Alexandra Amon

Published: May 26, 2025 at 4:00 am

Tiny, fuzzy blobs. I’ve spent a lot of time in the last few years looking at images of tiny, fuzzy blobs. They’re only ever a few pixels wide, like smudges on a photo, but they could be the key that unlocks the mystery of dark matter.

The blobs are galaxies: swirling pools of stars and planets suspended in space, millions of light-years away from Earth. The images were collected by an advanced camera with a 1m (3.3ft) lens mounted on the giant Victor M Blanco Telescope, 2,200m (7,200ft) up in the mountains of the Coquimbo Region of Chile.

Astronomers have spent years using it to scan the sky, gathering images of the cosmos. I, and my colleagues in the Dark Energy Survey, have pored over these images of millions of tiny fuzzy blobs in the hope that they reveal a vital missing piece in our understanding of the Universe.

We’re on the edge of our seats, because this piece fills the gaping hole in our understanding of the cosmos. It could even turn that understanding completely upside down.

More:
https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/dark-universe

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. It's an interesting article, worth clicking through and reading. . . . nt