The world’s best dark matter detector has been upgraded by researchers from Edinburgh. Now, the detector, called the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter experiment, is 20 times more sensitive than it was previously, thanks to a new technique.

The instrument in the Black Hills of South Dakota helps researchers find new things on the formation of the universe. It has already proved why it is called the best detector in search for dark matter, which accounts for most of the matter in the universe. Now, the researchers use some new calibration techniques to improve the detector’s sensitivity.

Researchers with LUX said they are searching for weakly interacting massive particles, also called WIMPs, which are one of the major candidates for dark matter. Daniel McKinsey, a professor of physics at the University of California and spokesperson of LUX, said, “We look for WIMPs produced in the Big Bang that are still around, up to very high masses – we have the best sensitivity of any experiment to date for WIMP masses above four times that of a proton”.

McKinsey, an affiliate of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, also said LUX researchers have not found anything about dark matter interactions, but they are continuously working to observe them.

According to scientists, there is no question on the existence of dark matter. Its gravity’s effects can be observed on rotation of galaxies in the universe. Bending of light in space is also a proof that dark matter exists, they said.