Scientists lose dark matter again

From the BBC:

A $2bn experiment on the space station has made observations that could have proved to be the first signs of dark matter, a mysterious component of the Universe, had a clumsy lab assistant not turned on the lights in the vault being used to store it.

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) collected several grams of the high-energy particles, or cosmic rays, and these were collected in a supercooled plasma centrifuge and placed overnight in the vault to await further tests. It might have been seen as evidence for what could be dark matter colliding with itself in a process known as "annihilation".

But scientists stress that a precise description of this enigmatic cosmic constituent is still some way off, because the precious specimens were wiped out when some idiot shone a torch into the centrifuge to check whether it was still there.

"It could take a few more years to get another few grams together," said an infuriated AMS deputy spokesman Roberto Battiston, a professor of physics at the University of Perugia, Italy. "For crying out loud, there was a big sign above the centrifuge saying 'DARK MATTER - PLEASE DO NOT ILLUMINATE' but the amount the AMS is collecting is far greater than past experiments, so we're getting closer to unveiling the cause of the particle events we're detecting," he told BBC News. "If only we would work out how to look at the stuff."

Dark matter accounts for most of the mass in the Universe. It is suspected that it is even darker than the grey matter required to work out how to identify it.