SUDBURY: Because everybody loves a mystery, and because there can be no greater mystery than that which has shaped our universe, SNOLAB is inviting students to help!
Our quarry is dark matter, the elusive particle thought to make up as much as 85 percent of all matter in our universe, and which remains a galactic mystery. Researchers around the world – including at SNOLAB – are working hard to detect it, anticipating it will teach us a great deal about the cosmos and our place within them.
SNOLAB is the world’s leading underground clean science laboratory, and Canada’s leading astroparticle physics lab. One of the main objectives of SNOLAB’s award-winning science program is the detection of this elusive subatomic particle, says SNOLAB Research Group Manager Steve Sekula.
“What is dark matter? This is simple to answer: we don’t know,” Sekula says. “When the universe provides a mystery of this scale, it is an invitation for everyone to participate in the solving. We know what dark matter does: it is the scaffold shaping the modern cosmos and it was there since almost the beginning of time, seeding what became the visible universe. The question of what it’s made from … that is where we need wide participation if we are to address the mystery.”
And that’s where students come in. SNOLAB is hosting a poster design contest for students aged 4-19 that is open to Canadian and international students. Students are invited to design an original visual artwork that explores the theme of dark matter.
“Designs can include focus on the mystery of dark matter, the role that it plays in the universe, the science behind it, the people studying it, or anything students find interesting about this topic,” says Blaire Flynn, Senior Education and Outreach Officer at SNOLAB.
“Students can be as creative as they like. They can imagine what a dark matter particle or a dark matter superhero may look like. They could dream up a design for an experiment or travel deep into space following their imagination,” Flynn said.
Winners in each age category (Primary: ages 4-8, Junior: ages 9-11, Intermediate: ages 12-16, Senior: ages 17-19, Universal: ages 20 -100+) will be awarded SNOLAB prize packs and all contest submissions will be displayed at SNOLAB. The winning entries will be printed, laminated, and displayed in the SNOLAB underground refuge, and sent back to the winners at the end of the underground exhibit.
Poster designs can be created using any medium. Awards will be given to winners in each age category. All contest submissions will be displayed at the SNOLAB facility! The poster design contest is part of Dark Matter Day an international outreach initiative.
What: SNOLAB Dark Matter Poster Contest
When: Deadline is October 27th at 11:59 p.m. EDT
Where: Go to SNOLAB.ca/poster-contest for more information and to submit entries
How: That’s up to you … be creative.
Why: Because everybody loves a mystery!
Dark Matter Day every October 31 is a public outreach initiative from the Interactions Collaboration, an international community of particle physics communicators celebrating the work underway at laboratories and institutions around the world. Dark Matter Day events begin in late October and highlight the global search for dark matter, the many fascinating ways scientists search for this elusive substance, and the value of devoting scientific resources to unraveling this cosmic riddle. For more information and resources, visit the Interactions.org Dark Matter Day website.