THE SCIENCE OF DARK MATTER

WRITTEN BY: ILANNA S. MANDEL

FADE IN:

INT. DEBBIE’S HOME OR OFFICE – NIGHT OR DAY

We see Debbie sitting at her computer. The screen displays

an image of our galaxy. Debbie turns around and faces the
camera.

DEBBIE
My name is Debbie Berebichez and
welcome to the science of everyday
life. Today we’re going to explore
a fantastic theory of the universe
called “Dark Matter”.

CUT TO:

Various images of the galaxy flash across the screen. Black

holes, planets, stars, etc.

V.O.
Space…the final frontier.
(beat)
It’s true. Space truly is the final
frontier and one of the great
mysteries of the universe is called
dark Matter.

CUT TO:

INT. SMALL CAFÉ – DAY

Debbie picks up a coffee and muffin and then walks out onto
a busy street.

DEBBIE (V.O.)
One of the great questions about
the universe we live in is whether
or not dark matter truly exists.

EXT. STREET SCENE - CONTINUOUS

Debbie is joined by a couple of friends. The three go

walking through the park.
 ON SCREEN
Dark matter was formed from exotic
particles formed when the universe
was just coming to existence.
NASA has actually found evidence
that dark matter really exists.

CUT TO:

Image of the Hubble Telescope

http://www.setiai.com/archives/hubble_space_telescope.jpg

DEBBIE (V.O.)
Using the famous Hubble Telescope they
discovered what they called a “ghostly
ring” of dark matter which was formed
a long time ago – I mean billions of
years ago when two galaxies collided
into each other. Now, scientists think
that dark matter is another force of
gravity that holds clusters of galaxies
together.

CUT TO:

INT. COMPUTER STORE – MOMENTS LATER

Debbie and a couple of friends are in a computer store.

Debbie is pointing to an image on the screen.

The image of the Telescope fades into the image found here:

(http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2007/17/
image/a/format/zoom)

DEBBIE (V.O.)
This image from the Hubble Telescope
Shows us what dark matter looks like.
See that ‘ghostly’ ring? Well, that’s
dark matter. This large screen helps
us appreciate what dark matter is
and what it isn’t. Unfortunately, a
lot of people confuse dark matter
with dark energy and they’re not
the same thing.
INT. DEBBIE’S APT. – LATER THAT DAY

Debbie is surfing on the Internet and comes up with a few

images. The image from here pops up on the screen.

DEBBIE (On Screen)

These images from the Hubble tele-
scope show the ‘ghostly ring’ that
NASA believes is dark matter. So,
even though it’s still a controversial
subject, we now believe we can see
dark matter, although not without the
help of technology like the Hubble.

EXT. DEBBIE’S BACK YARD – THAT EVENING

Debbie is sitting with her laptop and sees this image.

http://www.universetoday.com/wp-
content/uploads/2007/01/2007-0108darkmatter.jpg

DEBBIE (V.O.)
It’s amazing but dark matter may
make up almost 85% of our known
universe. I brought This 3D image
of the way dark matter may have
evolved in our universe from 6.5
billion years ago shows us that the
more gravitational distortions in
an area, the more dark matter there
will be. That means gravity and dark
matter are connected. There are also
several kinds of dark matter.

CUT TO:

An image of Debbie looking through a telescope.

DEBBIE (V.O.)
It’s also possible that billions of
years ago dark matter was evenly
distributed throughout the universe.
For some reason masses of dark matter
began to clump together in long filaments.
For those who’ve never heard of filaments
they’re thread like structures and they’re
the largest known structures in the
universe. They also form boundaries between
voids in the universe. We also know that
dark matter can pass right through our
bodies because it doesn’t interact with
everyday objects or people. Some scientists
believe that if it weren’t for dark matter
our galaxy wouldn’t exist and neither
would we.