Physicists hunt dark matter with a levitating magnet

Rice University and researchers at the Leiden Institute are levitating a sand-grain-sized magnet above a superconductor, using highly sensitive detectors to catch minuscule movements. A month of data has yielded no conclusive results, but the experiment should help refine models of dark matter's properties.

• A sand-grain-sized magnet levitates above a superconductor surrounded by sensitive detectors
• About a month of data collected, with no conclusive dark matter signal yet
• Even without a signal, results will refine models of dark matter's properties
• The next phase will add more sensors to separate background noise from anomalies