[pcx99]

Most theories state that the universe should have a lot more stuff in it than we can presently detect. The missing matter is called "dark matter" because we've never actually been able to find it when the models say it should be there and detectable.

If I'm reading this correctly it appears that the missing matter exists just beside us instead of inside us. If the experiment plays out then we've found a way to explain the missing matter which would go a long way to verifying some theories about why the universe is the way it is.

I think the article goes a bit far in assuming we're detecting another universe, more likely we're detecting the additional dimentions in our existing universe that string theory predicts (point, left, right, up, down, time, and then about 8 more different directions we can't really percieve that are wrapped around the current 3d+time dimensions). Which would make the article even MORE interesting because it would confirm not only the dark matter but the additional dimensions string theory predicts.

[11B3]

The experiment is invalidated due to the allowing the muons to change quantum states. In order to keep their data clean, they must force the muons to stay in their observed state and not allow the entropy involved with the state change.

Alternately, they could take a measure of pure vacuum (or as close a humans can generate) and then try to accelerate "the fiz". If they catch anything by observing what was not there in our realm, they will have succeeded in making something cross over from an alternate reality. (But proving an alternate reality has consequences as well.)