Construction starts on deepest underground lab

Work has begun on world's deepest underground lab to detect dark matter particles. The facility will be located 4,850 foot (1,478 meters) below the surface of a former gold mine in Lead, South Dakota, and there are plans to build two labs that would go even deeper. Scientists explain the site is ideal for experiments because it is largely shielded from cosmic rays that could interfere with efforts to prove the existence of dark matter.

The first dark matter experiment will be the Large Underground Xenon detector experiment — or LUX — a project to detect weakly interacting particles that could give scientists greater insight into the Big Bang explosion believed to have formed the universe.

Shutt, along with Brown University's Rick Gaitskell and nearly a dozen collaborators will work at the site to search for dark matter, which does not emit detectable light or radiation. But scientists say its presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter.

More info at Yahoo News.