After 16 years of preparation, NASA is ready to launch the 8 ton bundle of electronics which make up their Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. There are high hopes that this device will be able to gain valuable information on the origin of our universe. The $1.5 billion project has been the center of attention for many scientists as they prepare it for a February launch.
There have been mixed opinions from the very beginning of this project. Some believe it is a catastrophic waste of money while others see it as a key to the future. The proof will be seen in the pudding, luckily for us only a few months away. The primary objective of building this Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is to detect dark matter which is believed to exist through out space. If the device dose its job correctly, we will prove the existence of dark matter in some sort of measurable form. Others hope that it will turn up something entirely new. In the words o Samuel Chao Chung Ting, "Real discovery is outside the ring o existing knowledge."
The laws of physics stipulate that following the Big Bang, an equal amount of dark matter and common matter were released. Further more, these two types of matter, on contact will explode releasing a tremendous amount of energy. This is one of science's great mysteries
"The discovery of a single atomic nucleus heavier than anti-helium could mean there was an anti-star or maybe a whole anti-galaxy somewhere."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/science/space/17dark.html?_r=1&ref=science
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJN2X3NrQAE
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