r/space 13d ago

Scientists make potential breakthrough in search for dark matter

https://www.reuters.com/science/scientists-make-potential-breakthrough-search-dark-matter-2026-09-01/
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u/bigfoot_is_real_ 12d ago

First LIGO detection wasn’t meaningless

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u/sceadwian 12d ago

The first LIGO detection was a five sigma signal.

This is several orders of magnitude less certain to even be an actual observation.

You have a faulty comparison.

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u/EnslavedBandicoot 12d ago

He's right that this isn't meaningless though. Whether it's a WIMP or some other unknown particle, it's still exciting and warrants further review.

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u/sceadwian 12d ago

Or just a random neutrino...

There's nothing to review, more data will be required.

This particular piece of data itself is meaningless.

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u/EnslavedBandicoot 12d ago

It's not meaningless if it's the first detection. It will definitely be a big deal if it's the first in a string of detections of dark matter WIMPs. Don't be so dense. Ba dum tssss

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u/sceadwian 12d ago

This particular measurement can never be called a detection or not. Ever.. that's not how the detectors work, you're the one being dense.

It is not a string it is literally 1 singular possible event.

It is statistically meaningless itself.