Boffins search for 'missing piece' of the universe but find something else entirely

Although researchers did not find the dark matter signals they were hoping for, the experiment instead delivered unprecedented insights into elusive solar neutrinos Something else was discovered

Scientists searching for what they describe as the "missing piece" of the universe say they may have uncovered something unexpected during one of the most sensitive dark matter experiments ever conducted.

The investigation, carried out a mile beneath South Dakota in a vast underground laboratory, used the LUX ZEPLIN (LZ) particle detector to probe the nature of dark matter, the invisible substance thought to account for most of the matter in existence.

Although researchers did not find the dark matter signals they were hoping for, the experiment instead delivered unprecedented insights int