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Could dark matter harbour dark life?

Where the conditions are right, life can arise. But what might the ‘right’ conditions be? Could the dark sector of our Universe be inhabited? Marnie Chesterton investigates

Where the conditions are right, life can arise. But what might the ‘right’ conditions be? Could the dark sector of our Universe be inhabited? That’s what Gautam from Delhi, India has been wondering. He points out that dark matter and dark energy make up around 95% of the Universe and the remaining segment is normal matter - the stuff we’re all made up of. Given that there’s so much of this dark material, could dark life have evolved? Marnie Chesterton investigates with Dr Matt Middleton, Dr Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil and Dr Renato Costa.

Together, they unpick what dark matter and dark energy are and test out some listener theories as to what these mysterious mediums might be. For instance, Yoseph from Ogden, USA questions whether black holes could account for the missing matter and it turns out, he might just be on to something…

Presented by Marnie Chesterton. Produced by Graihagh Jackson for Â鶹Éç World Service.

(Photo: Arrangement of Nebula, Stars and a colourful galaxy. Credit: Getty Images)

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31 minutes

Last on

Mon 20 May 2019 17:32GMT

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Broadcasts

  • Fri 17 May 2019 19:32GMT
  • Sat 18 May 2019 23:32GMT
  • Mon 20 May 2019 04:32GMT
  • Mon 20 May 2019 05:32GMT
  • Mon 20 May 2019 06:32GMT
  • Mon 20 May 2019 10:32GMT
  • Mon 20 May 2019 13:32GMT
  • Mon 20 May 2019 17:32GMT

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