China leads in dark matter detection

China's dark matter detection satellite, "Wukong" (Monkey King), has demonstrated it's the most powerful space probe for high-energy cosmic rays.

It has the highest energy resolution and particle identification ability, perfect for searching for traces of the annihilation or decay of dark matter particles, scientists say.

The initial detection results were published in the latest issue of the academic journal, Nature.

Wukong, or the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE), was launched in December 2015. It is helping scientists lift the "cloak of invisibility" from dark matter. "DAPME has opened a new window to observe the high-energy universe, showing new physical phenomena beyond our current understanding," said Chang Jin, chief scientist of DAMPE and vice director of the Purple Mountain Observatory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The 1.9-tonne satellite uses a creative detection technology and method independently developed by Chinese scientists, but costs only one seventh of NASA's Fermi Space Telescope and a twentieth of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02), a state-of-the-art particle physics detector operating on the International Space Station (ISS).

Tomori Uriel,

Source: XinhuaNet.cim

UCJ, UNILORIN.