Observations of the night sky suggest there is much more matter out there than just the stars and galaxies that can be detected. The ‘missing mass’ in the universe is called Dark Matter, and the race is on to find out exactly what it is. For more than two decades UK and international astrophysicists have been operating experiments in a dedicated 'low background' facility at Boulby mine, between Whitby and Saltburn, in NE England. 

 

This Dark Matter search at Boulby is intensifying, with exciting new projects expected to begin in the next few years, and the range of science areas looking to use the special properties of a facility like Boulby is growing, including studies of geology and geophysics, Earth and environmental sciences, life in extreme environments on Earth and the development of technologies for looking for life beyond Earth.

 

Our speaker is Sean Paling – Director of Boulby Underground Laboratory since 2010, Senior scientist for the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and an Honorary Professor at Sheffield University, prior to which he was post-doctoral researcher for Sheffield University involved in Dark Matter projects at Boulby, having previously worked in a combination of medical imaging and astrophysics positions in the UK and USA, after doing first degrees (in Physics and astrophysics) in York and Leeds.