Astronomers have spent nearly a century searching for dark matter , the invisible scaffolding thought to hold galaxies together. While there’s abundant indirect evidence to suggest this mysterious substance exists, no one has been able to detect it directly. Now, a new study might finally signal a breakthrough.

Using data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope , astronomer and University of Tokyo professor Tomonori Totani is claiming to have identified gamma-ray emissions that appear to have originated from dark matter. His findings, published Tuesday in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics , suggest this radiation was emitted by colliding WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles).

“WIMPs, a leading candidate for dark matter, have long been predicted to

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