Interactions.org launches a new podcast “Particle Mysteries: The Coldest Case” explores the mystery of dark matter

The nature of matter in our universe has left scientists puzzled for decades. There seems to be more than meets the eye—significantly more—yet the answer remains a mystery. To mark Dark Matter Day, the Interactions Collaboration is opening a file on “Particle Mysteries: The Coldest Case,” a dark matter mystery-style podcast series that follows the decades-long search for dark matter, the mysterious substance that dominates our universe, leaving visible traces while evading detection.

In this four-episode series ,the hosts sit down with researchers from around the world to discuss the quest to understand our universe and discover the nature of dark matter. Laboratories worldwide employ cutting-edge science and develop new technologies that uncover new leads to help solve this particle mystery.

“The Spin of the Galaxy,” the first episode in this podcast series, will air Oct. 31 at Interactions.org and on all major podcast platforms. The episode focuses on how new theories of the universe that were emerging at the beginning of the 20th Century informed scientists’ efforts to explain the universe. This and uncovered even stranger phenomena driven by a mysterious form of matter that leaves enticing clues to its existence yet remains hidden in the vast expanse of the universe.

“Dark matter, to me, is the substance that causes the structures of the universe,” says scientist Axel Lindner, who leads a major dark matter experiment called ALPS II at the German research center DESY in Hamburg and who was interviewed for “Particle Mysteries”. “Without dark matter, we would not be around. It’s the core of our existence.”

The search for dark matter is an ever-evolving field of astrophysics. This podcast series, “The Coldest Case,” brushes the surface of the enduring search for dark matter and the ongoing quest to unlock its mysteries. Don’t miss a single episode. Listen on your favorite streaming platforms. Find more information about “Particle Mysteries: The Coldest Case” visit the podcast page of the Interactions website, follow Dark Matter Day on Facebook and X.

Episode 2: Digging Deeper
In “Digging Deeper,” listeners can learn how the study of the tiniest particles meets our understanding of the largest bodies in the universe—from theory to the search for direct evidence to the role of gravity. And don’t forget your hardhat. You’ll be going deep underground for this.

Episode 3: Chasing Shadows
Where there are suspects, there’s a lineup. In “Chasing Shadows,” we’ll discuss physicists’ definitions of dark matter through a combination of computational modeling, hints from experiments, and some good old-fashioned thinking outside the box.

Episode 4: The People on the Case
The search for dark matter sounds big, and it is. But it’s still done by human beings. “The People on the Case” highlights the people who call the search for dark matter their job. Why do they do it? Where will their work take us, in terms of how we understand the universe and our place in it?