NASA is currently performing experiments to discover what role WIMPs play in the nature of dark matter. To discover WIMPs experimenters will have to distinguish the gamma rays produced by dark matter annihilations from gamma rays from other places and elements in the universe. A set of four guidelines has been set by researcher to differentiate between the various scources of gamma rays: supersymmetry predicts that WIMP annihilations will create gamma rays of particular wavelengths, distinct from those generated by other sources such as black holes or supernovae, Dark-matter annihilations should produce gamma rays exclusively, These signals should appear to GLAST not as point sources, but as large patches in the sky, some nearly twice as big as the full Moon, these streams of gamma rays should be continuous, a marked difference from the fleeting explosions of gamma-ray bursts, which last only a few milliseconds to several minutes. When carrying out their experiments scientists will be seeking out signals that exhibit all of the characteristics listed above, this will indicate that a source of WIMP has been found (Woo).

An experiment preformed by the scientists of the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search in an underground observatory in Northern Minnesota studied the nature of WIMPs with greater sensitivity than the many experimenters before them. This experiment involves cooling detectors to nearly absolute zero and placing them about half a mile below ground. WIMPs particles are much more massive than a proton, but they interact so weakly with other particles that thousands would pass through a human body each second without leaving a trace. Thus, this poses a challenge to the experimenters. These scientists were able to show with 90% certainty that the interaction rate of a WIMP with mass of 60 GeV must be less than 4 x 10^-43 cm2 or about one interaction every 25 days per kilogram of germanium, the material in the experiments detector. This experiment is at least four times more sensitive than the previous experiment is at least four times more sensitive than the previous experiment of a similar nature (Hutson).

Discovering WIMPs would play a large part in solving the mystery of the nature of dark matter in a cosmic scale and of supersymmetry on the subatomic scale because they may be identical to neutralinos, undiscovered particles predicted by the theory of supersymmetry. "We know that neither our Standard Model of particle physics nor our model of the cosmos is complete," said CDMS II spokesperson Bernard Sadoulet of the University of California at Berkeley. "This particular missing piece seems to fit both puzzles. We are seeing the same shape from two different directions." (Hutson)

WIMPs are said to make up from 90-99% of the known universe's mass and up to 22% of its energy content. If they play possibly the most important role in our existence, why haven't we been able to detect them? The reason is that their hypothetical existence is very small or invisible. In fact, millions could be passing directly through the earth every second.
Astrophysics defines WIMPs as Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, and they could be the solution for the infamous Dark Matter problem. WIMPs have gone undetected because of their mysterious propensity to interact with only gravity and weak nuclear force. Since they don't interact with electromagnetism they can't be seen, and because they don't interact with the strong nuclear force typical of baryons (nucleons, protons, and other heavier particles), they can't be detected with though normal observation methods. Even though they have a field strength is some 1013 times less than that of the strong force (or the bond between protons and neutrons), the weak nuclear force can still be more powerful than gravity over short distances. According to NASA, A WIMP, often referred to as neutralinos, is a massive particle, perhaps 10,000 times as massive as a proton. Because they act as their own anti-matter particle, two colliding WIMPs will annihilate each other, creating a flurry of energy and other particles that decay into everything from protons, anti-protons, positrons, electrons, and neutrinos. The decay causes a release of photons and medium-energy gamma rays. Luckily, it's thought that this special release of gamma rays is more sustained than a burst from something such as a collapsing star, so there is hope for a confirmed detection.

So how does this particle, inept at emitting or absorbing light, alter the physics of entire galaxies? It turns out that WIMPs could build on the highly refined theory of supersymmetry that combines the three forces of electromagnetism, weak nuclear force, and strong magnetic force into one super force. WHIMPs create a sprawling halo of dark matter that the luminous matter of galaxies is gravitationally bound to. This helps to explain why conventional physics accurately predicts gravitational interaction near the center of galaxies but fails to do so near the outer limits. If the majority of WIMPs circle the boundary of a galaxy, then there's a better chance of two WIMP particles colliding and emitting the energy we know is there but cannot detect.

But, why should we care? First off, man will always seek out knowledge that can enlighten us about how and why our existence is possible. The other reason is slightly more destructive. According to Afsar Abbas dark matter clumps could be the reason for one or more of Earth's mass extinctions. "The density of particles within clumps is expected to be up to a billion times higher than within the halo," says Abbas. Effects of our solar system passing through a big bang remanant clump is spurratic genetic mutation along with fatal cancers and increased volcanism on the planet.