To the Ends of the Earth for Dark Matter

A crane lifts a large container in a snowy Antarctic landscape under a bright sun for a Columbia University research experiment.

January 16, 2026

What is dark matter made of? In Antarctica, a team led by Columbia researchers launched the GAPS (General AntiParticle Spectrometer) balloon experiment in December to find out.

“GAPS is on the hunt for low energy anti-nuclei, and if we observe them, it would confirm that dark matter or some other new physics that we haven’t yet discovered is causing them to appear,” said the project’s deputy principal investigator, Kerstin Perez, Lavine Family Associate Professor of the Natural Sciences.

Check out Columbia News' story and video to learn more about the hunt for dark matter.


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