Technological advances are ushering in a new era of understanding in the search for fundamental physical particles - including dark matter - scientists will tell a public event.

Researchers are using analysis of deep space observations together with experiments far underground to hunt for - an elusive material which, together with , is thought to account for about 95 per cent of the universe.

Scientists will tell a public symposium in Washington, DC how current theories and experiment point to the existence of dark matter, but how it is little understood by scientists. Its discovery would be a fundamental development in understanding the physical universe, a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) will hear.

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