GARDEN OF PHYSICS: Episode 6
Dark Matter, the greatest mystery of our time
Guest: Dr Marko Vojinović
‘The fact that there is a world around us of which we have no knowledge whatsoever, is something research-worthy, and it can bring about a revolution in our understanding of nature’, says Dr Marko Vojinović of the Institute of Physics, Belgrade, in the sixth episode of the scientific popular video series ’Garden of Physics’, which is dedicated to the research of dark matter.
In a speech given back in 1884, British physicist Lord Kelvin stated that many of the stars in the Milky Way were dark bodies, while French mathematician Henri Poincaré first mentioned the term ‘dark matter’ in 1906 when discussing Kelvin’s work. However, its research only began in the 1970s and, according to Dr Vojinović, it is one of the greatest mysteries of modern physics. ‘The theory which is to describe it is still completely underdeveloped’, explains Dr Vojinović.
It may come as a surprise, but the calculations state that dark matter accounts for around 85 per cent of the entire matter. ‘The total physics we know, everything we have done, our complete understanding of nature represents knowledge of only 15 per cent of the matter’, accentuates Dr Vojinović.
Numerous astrophysical observations have confirmed that there is more matter in the universe than we are able to see and for that there is an experimental signal. ‘We know that it exists based on its gravitational effects, out of the movements of stars in galaxies and galaxies in clusters, but as we cannot see it we say it is dark,’ Dr Vojinović elaborates, adding that it might be more correct to call it transparent having in mind that it does not interact with light.
Realized in cooperation with the portal ’Science Through Stories’, each episode of ’The Garden of Physics’ is dedicated to one of the fundamental topics of modern science, whether it is the greatest secrets of our times or research indicating unexpected horizons in the perception of the world. New episodes are aired every Friday online and they are available on webpages of the Institute of Physics, Belgrade and the portal „Science Through Stories“, as well as on You are welcome to join us.
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Authors: Marija Đurić and Slobodan Bubnjević
Scenario: ’Science Through Stories’
Camera/drone: Zoran Veljanoski, Bojan Živojinović (Twotech Solutions)
Production associate: Jovana Nikolić
Directing and editing: Bojan Živojinović
Produced by: Insitute of Physics, Belgrade, 2020