Vera Rubin was the only woman to graduate in astronomy at Vassar College in 1948. She found the first evidence of the existence of dark matter. The Greeks had a simple and elegant formula for the universe: just earth, fire, wind, and water. Turns out there's more to it than that -- a lot more. Visible matter (and that goes beyond the four Greek elements) comprises only 4% of the universe. CERN scientist James Gillies tells us what accounts for the remaining 96% (dark matter and dark energy) and how we might go about detecting it. Scientists are still working on theories that might help explain what the vast majority of our universe is made of. These three amazing women astronomers - Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin and Vera Rubin - changed the way we see the universe. Astrophysicist Jo Dunkley explains what she learnt from them. |
1 of 4: VERA RUBIN AND DARK MATTER
2 of 4: DARK MATTER: THE MATTER WE CAN'T SEE
3 of 4: What We (Don't) Know About Dark Matter
4 of 4: WOMEN WHO CHANGED HOW WE SEE THE UNIVERSE
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