Some physicists claim the daily use of a GPS (Global Positioning System) device can detect dark matter, which is believed to be a unique form of matter responsible for the creation of the universe.

Andrei Derevianko from the University of Nevada and Maxim Pospelov from the University of Victoria's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics have figured out a method in which the search for dark matter can be performed using GPS satellites and atomic clock networks.

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Deravianko says that even if there's direct evidence of dark matter, its nature and properties still remain a mystery. Research programs involving particle physics assume dark matter is made-up of dense, heavy particles similar to matter but this hasn't been proven yet.

He also says modern physics and cosmology believes only five percent of the existing mass and energy in the universe comes from ordinary matter but the rest of the universe's composition is still a mystery.

Evidence shows that dark matter comprises about 68 percent of that mysterious composition of mass and energy found in the universe. Although the remaining 27 percent is still considered to be also dark matter, it's still not visible and not directly detectable and measureable.

Derevianko proposes that dark matter can be organized into gas-like formations. This process involves dark matter passing through a network of sensitive atomic clocks. This passage will cause the atomic clocks to go out of sync.

This result becomes a clear indication that dark matter had just passed by. This also means the constellation of GPS satellites can now be used as a dark matter detector.

Derevianko is now analyzing GPS data with the help of the Nevada Geodetic Laboratory that maintains the largest GPS data processing center in the world. They will now analyze clock data from 30 GPS satellites that use atomic clocks for daily navigation to detect dark matter.

Atomic clocks are considered the world's most precise instruments. These clocks can eventually lose one second of precision in 100 million years.

The time discrepancies among the clocks are expected to reveal a distinct signature. When dark matter passes through, the GPS system's clocks will go out of sync for a period of three minutes.

This study about dark matter and GPS detection systems was published online in the journal, Nature Physics.

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