WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles)
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Basic Information

WIMPs stands for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, one proposed type of Dark Matter. WIMPs have many traits in common with Neutrinos, but are much larger and more massive, and thus colder. They interact with normal matter only via Gravity and the Weak Nuclear Force. So, they may break down similar to beta radiation, but are invisible to light, are non-magnetic, do not conduct electricity, and do not bind into atoms. They do affect interact with gravity, but, being subatomic, are light enough to escape notice in many circumstances. They move slowly (relative to other particles), are cold, and would tend to clump together. WIMPs could be slowly passing through the earth (or you and me) at this very moment, and we'd never know.

Sources

Bibliography
2. The novella Starplex had the darmats, a species composed of either WIMPs or Mirror Matter.

Game and Story Use

  • Unless there's something cool about WIMPs that I'm just missing, they don't have nearly as many gaming uses as some other types of Dark Matter and Dark Energy. Sounds like there no more (and quite possibly a lot less) harmful or dangerous than driving your space ship through a fog bank.
  • I suppose their very neutral and non-reactive nature might make them useful in some sort of supertech.
    • Maybe they make a really good insulator or heat sink. You'd need a lot of them to do anything, though, and some way to contain them (probably via gravity).
    • Perhaps they have applications in Stealth Technology. See also Stealth In Space.
    • If they interact with each other in some way, there could be a WIMP universe co-existing with our own.
    • A place saturated with WIMPs might make regular matter radioactive, since it can interact through the weak force. In fact, without the strong force, a WIMP with weak strength equal to a neutron would produce far more radioactivity that an actual neutron.
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