Guide Note

Dark matter is an unverified substance that is believed to make up a large part of the known universe but does not emit or reflect any kind of radiation so it cannot be observed directly. Dark Matter was first observed in 1933 by CalTech astronomer Fritz Zwicky.

Fast Facts

1. Dark Matter is thought to make up around 23% of everything in the known universe
2. Dark Matter is often featured in Science Fiction
3. The term Dark Matter was coined by Fritz Zwicky

Dark Matter in Fiction

1. Powers a powerful gun in the video game Quake 4
2. Appears frequently in games produced by Squaresoft
3. Plays an integral role in books of the His Dark Materials series
4. Has appeared in numerous episodes in the Star Trek franchise

The Mahalo Top 7

1. Wikipedia: Dark Matter
2. Berkeley: Martin White on Dark Matter
3. NASA: Matter in the Universe
4. Dark Matter Telescope
5. Cosmic Variance: Dark Matter Exists 
6. University of Oregon: Dark Matter in the Universe
7. YouTube: NOVA scienceNOW | The Dark Matter Mystery | PBS (Time 4:37)

Dark Matter News

• Google News
• ScienceDaily: Dark Matter News
• BBC: Dark Matter Comes Out of the Cold (2006)
• Washington Post: Scientists Offer Proof of 'Dark Matter' (2006)
• TIME: Dark Matter Revealed (2007)
• Seed Magazine: Found: Most of the Universe
• NewScientist: Dark Matter may Have Been Found on Earth (April 17, 2008)

Dark Matter Informational Resources

• NASA: Dark Matter Introduction
• Chandra X-ray Observatory: Dark Matter Mystery
• A Primer on Dark Matter
• Eclipse.net: Dark Matter
• Mysterious Dark Matter
• University of Oregon: Dr. DarkMatter

Dark Matter Articles

• Space.com: Dark Matter: Hidden Mass Confounds Science (2002) 
• UChicago: The Early History of Dark Matter'' (1999)
• Space.com: Understanding Dark Matter and Light Energy 
• BBC News: Astronomers Find Star-less galaxy (2005)

Dark Matter Books and Essays

• Berkeley: Dark Matter (essay)
• Google Book Search: Dark Matter
• Amazon.com: In Search of Dark Matter by Ken Freeman and Geoff McNamara
• Amazon.com Dark Side of the Universe by Iain Nicolson

Dark Matter Experiments

• University of Washington: Dark Matter
• UCSB.edu: Other Dark Matter Experiments
• University of Florida: The Axion Dark Matter Experiment

Dark Matter Blogs

• Universe Today: Dark Matter Posts
• Google Blog Search
• Bad Astronomy Blog: Hubble finds dark matter smoke ring
• Scientific Blogging: Using Greek geometry to study dark matter

Dark Matter Video and Images

• YouTube & Google Video: Dark Matter
• Google Video: Theories of Everything: Dark Matter
• NASA: Image of the Day, Dark Matter
• Google Image Search: Dark Matter
• Yahoo Image Search: Dark Matter
• YouTube: Dark Matter Bob McDonald Interview  
• YouTube: NOVA scienceNOW | The Dark Matter Mystery | PBS (Time 4:37)