Pyramids, dark matter & the Big Bang theory: What’s holding our universe together? | DW Documentary

Without elementary particles, there’d be no X-Ray machines, no Internet and no electricity. Because some elementary particles penetrate matter without destroying it, they’re a boon for scientific and medical applications. But have all the elementary particles been discovered? Researchers are endeavoring to answer that question. They’re decoding the protein structure of viruses or showing us cavities in the Egyptian pyramids. If scientists at the research center German Electron Synchroton (DESY) succeed in sending light particles through matter, this could provide evidence for a new, as yet undiscovered elementary particle. Why is this important? We still don’t know what ca. 85 percent of the matter in the universe consists of. We call it dark matter. Solving this mystery won’t just tell us what’s holding the world together at its core, it’ll also explain the glue that’s holding the entire universe together. Prof. Christian Schwanenberger and other leading scientists take us to DESY in Hamburg and the European Organization for Nuclear Research to see the tunnels and laboratories and observe the relevant field studies. The film also tells the story of particle physics and the key discoveries of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen and Peter Higgs.