Dark Matter Experiment’s Central Component Takes a Deep Dive – Nearly a Mile Underground

Last week, crews at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in South Dakota strapped the central component of LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) – the largest direct-detection dark matter experiment in the U.S. – below an elevator and s-l-o-w-l-y lowered it 4,850 feet down a shaft formerly used in gold-mining operations. At UW–Madison, the experiment is led by Physics Prof. Kim Palladino.