Abstract:

I will discuss the very recently announced results from the CDMS (Cryogenic Dark Matter Search @ Berkeley/Stanford) and DAMA (@ Rome/Gran Sasso, Italy) Experiments. Both experiments are involved in looking for WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) that may be the dominant Cold Dark Matter component in the Universe. The creation of these particles at cosmologically interesting abundances is well motivated by SUSY (Supersymmetry) mechanisms 1 ns after the Big Bang. The DAMA experiment now identifies a () positive signal for WIMPs. In contrast the CDMS experiment, which is now more sensitive than DAMA, reports no signal at the same level. I will consider the details of the experiments, and suggest how this conundrum may be resolved.