This Alberta scientist hopes to shine a light on the secrets of dark matter

Dark matter has never been seen, but scientists think it could help explain the mysteries of the universe. And one Alberta researcher is trying to build a machine to detect it.

Dark matter is a key ingredient of our universe, making up almost one-third of it, according to NASA. 

"Dark matter interacts gravitationally, we can see the effects of dark matter on galaxies," said Marie-Cécile Piro, associate physics professor at the University of Alberta. 

"It's very, very abundant." 

Our universe consists of two other components: dark energy — which is believed to drive the expansion of the universe — and ordinary matter, such as stars, planets, trees and animals, consisting of protons, neutrons and electrons. 

Dark matter is invisible. It does not absorb, reflect or emit light. Some scientists, according to NASA, think dark matter exists in a vast, web-like structure that holds the visible universe together, like scaffolding at a construction site. 

"We don't know really what it is, but it could be a particle that we can detect on Earth," Piro said. 

It's thought, dark matter is five times more abundant than ordinary matter. 

Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky was trying to measure the visible mass of a cluster of galaxies in 1933, but found the galaxies were too small to prevent them from escaping the gravitational pull of the entire cluster. Zwicky concluded there must be something — like dark matter – keeping the galaxies glued together. 

Since then, other scientists have used dark matter to help explain what keeps galaxies from flying apart. 

Yet, it's still unknown what dark matter is made of. 

To help solve the mystery, Piro is trying to build a detector to find dark matter. She was recently awarded a Dorothy Killam Fellowship, worth $160,000, for her project. 

However, it's not an easy task. 

For one, the detector would have to be extremely sensitive.