--- title: "Is Dark Matter In The Room With Me Right Now? Scientists Say Yes" description: "Invisible Interlopers We don’t wanna freak you out, but there’s a really good likelihood that dark matter could be in the room with you right now, and could even be passing through your body as you read this. Dark matter, which we can’t truly define and cannot see or measure directly, is said to make […]" date: "2022-03-16" modified: "2022-03-16" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/dark-matter-in-the-room" categories: - "Astrophysics" - "Dark Matter" - "Science & Energy" - "Space" tags: - "dark matter" - "interstellar probe" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # Is Dark Matter In The Room With Me Right Now? Scientists Say Yes ![We don't wanna freak you out, but there's a really good likelihood that dark matter could be in the room with you right now.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Invisible Touch We don't wanna freak you out, but there's a serious likelihood that dark matter could be in the room with you right now, and could even be passing through your body as you read this. "Yeah, absolutely. It's here," Yeshiva University researcher Ed Belbruno [told Futurism](). "Where you're sitting, you're feeling, on some level which is beyond our senses... that force." It makes sense. Dark matter, which scientists have yet to observe or measure directly, is estimated to make up 95 percent of the universe. With a substance that prevalent, the likelihood that it's made its way to Earth and into our homes and bodies seems high, right? As Belbruno and recently-retired NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green [told Futurism]() about their proposal to launch a probe to space to study the mysterious substance, one of the only main things we *do* know about dark matter is that it appears there is less of it the closer you get to the Sun due to our familiar star's own gravitational force. This would be good news for dark matter-phobes, though it wouldn't dispel their fears entirely. Because, as Belbruno insists, this uncanny substance is nevertheless here with us. "It's going through you right now," Belbruno added. "The only reason it's not anything to be concerned about is because the gravity of the Earth is so much, it drowns it out. It's noise, but it's there." ## FYI Green, the more pragmatic half of this odd couple, put it differently. "Dark matter is probably in our area, is probably in and around our solar system," he said. "It may be in our rooms, but it's at such a low density, in such a low level, it hasn't been detected." "We have no inkling there's dark matter among us," Green added. "Now, that doesn't mean that it's not here at such a low density that the measurement of things that we do in laboratories haven't found it yet." There are a number of theories, of course, about where dark matter came from. The leading hypothesis suggests that dark matter was a byproduct of the Big Bang, though as Green and Belbruno both noted, some scientists now believe that [dark matter may predate that primoridial explosion](). To put it another way: dark matter, whatever it is, was probably in the room with everyone who ever lived before you, and will be there long after you're gone. What you do with that knowledge is your decision entirely. **READ MORE:** [*Inside NASA’s Bold Proposal to Probe the Mysteries of Dark Matter*]() **More from the interview:** *[Scientists Say Dark Matter Could Likely Be Incredible Fuel For Spacecraft]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()