As LUX-ZEPPLIN continues to gather the largest dataset in dark matter science, the team will determine if this event has grown in significance or if its significance fades.

One definite positive is the fact that WIMP/ matter interactions are so rare that it wouldn’t take many detections such as this to confirm the existence of WIMP dark matter, thus solving the puzzle of what the universe’s most mysterious stuff actually is composed of.

“We expect dark matter events to be extremely rare, so only a handful could mark the first detection of WIMP dark matter,” Eriksen said.