But won’t it still stick out?

Dark matter is all around us, but possibly even more so if you live in the snowy, Norse-ish lands of Minnesota.

Wait, what?

Scientists are reporting that researchers involved in something called the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search may have found dark matter particles, substance so common that it makes up three-fourths of all the matter in the universe, in an abandoned iron mine in Northern Minnesota. Emphasis on the “may”:

When the CDMS-II team looked at the analysis of their latest run – after accounting for all possible background particles and any faulty detectors in their stacks – they were in for a surprise. Their statistical models predicted that they would see 0.8 events during a run between 2007 and 2008, but instead they saw two.

The team is not claiming discovery of dark matter, because the result is not statistically significant. There is a 1-in-4 chance that it is merely due to fluctuations in the background noise. Had the experiment seen five events above the expected background, the claim for having detected dark matter would have been a lot stronger.

Unable to prove that it is or isn’t evidence of dark matter, the team are working on creating equipment three times as sensitive to use in the same area next year. Thanks a lot, science. Once again, you get everyone all hot and bothered about something that could be potentially revolutionary and then call everything off to wash your hair.