COSINE-100: The Next Frontier in the Hunt for Dark Matter and Big Bang Relics

Humanity's relentless quest to understand the universe continues to push the boundaries of technology and ingenuity. At the heart of this pursuit lies one of the cosmos's most profound mysteries: dark matter, an invisible substance thought to make up roughly 27% of the universe's mass. Now, a groundbreaking new particle detector, appropriately named COSINE-100, has successfully passed a critical test, signaling its readiness to embark on a monumental journey into the unknown.

Located deep underground in Korea, shielded from cosmic rays and other background noise, COSINE-100 is designed to be an ultra-sensitive instrument.

Its primary mission: to finally detect the elusive particles that constitute dark matter. These particles are often referred to as the 'ashes of the Big Bang,' theoretical remnants from the universe's fiery genesis, whose gravitational pull shapes galaxies and cosmic structures, yet whose direct presence has remained stubbornly out of reach.

The recent breakthrough, published in the journal Physical Review D, confirms COSINE-100's operational prowess.

Scientists put the detector through a rigorous .