Waiting Space: A Town, And Science, Wait for Deliverance By Dark Matter

The LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter experiment sits in Lead, South Dakota, where the townspeople were promised the multi-million dollar project would bring jobs and money back to the mining town. But, it turns out, both the researchers and the people who live there are still waiting.

Editor’s Note (1/26/24):
The laboratory described throughout this video is the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), and the descriptions of searches for dark matter described throughout regard the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment, one of the several experiments at SURF (1:45:    • Waiting Space: A Town, And Science, W...  .
The full name of the LZ experiment is “LUX-ZEPLIN,” not “LUX-ZEPELIN” (13:47:    • Waiting Space: A Town, And Science, W...  .
The mine described throughout the video is the former Homestake Gold Mine. SURF is a dedicated research facility at the site of this former mine. The mine was abandoned in the sense that its previous owners ceased mining operations there (13:57:    • Waiting Space: A Town, And Science, W...  .
SURF has reported that a 2022 study found that, through 2029, the facility’s economic impact in South Dakota “is projected to reach $2 billion (https://sanfordlab.org/feature/econom..., which includes $651 million in household earnings for South Dakotans, and 1,178 jobs annually.” Additionally, its Education and Outreach program (https://sanfordlab.org/feature/educat...) has included several public outreach efforts (https://sanfordlab.org/feature/public...) in the community.