Scientists hope to illuminate universe's dark side

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By Irene KlotzPosted 2011/04/27 at 2:23 pm EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida, Apr. 27, 2011 (Reuters) — Everything scientists now know about the cosmos, from the Big Bang to black holes, has come from measurements of light rays.


Staff attempt to load the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) detector into a U.S. Air Force Galaxy aircraft during last preparations at Cointrin Airport in Geneva August 25, 2010. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse


But Mother Nature speaks in particles too, and until now their instruments have been largely deaf to her second tongue.

A device due to launch aboard the space shuttle Endeavour from Florida on Friday is designed to give scientists their first detailed study of the electrically charged particles streaming through the cosmos.

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, could reshape modern understandings of the universe, much the same way that the Hubble Space Telescope pioneered new frontiers in astronomy, including the startling discovery that the universe's rate of expansion is speeding up.

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http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre73q6tw-us-space-shuttle-spectrometer/