April 3rd, 2013, Professor Samuel Ting and Professor Cheng Lin announced the first result of the AMS project at the The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and at Shandong University, respectively. The project has been in operation for eighteen years.

The physics result shows that the AMS has identified more than 400,000 positrons (the antiparticle of electron), part of which may originate from pulsars, or the collision of dark matter particles that people have been searching for a long time. Media reports have noted that this result marks a large step towards understanding dark matter. For the first time, and at an unprecedented accuracy, there is now evidence that dark matter may exist. It is a major milestone of the AMS international collaboration.

Shandong University started to participate in the AMS collaboration in March 2004. Professor Cheng Lin was the chief scientist of the thermal system of the AMS project, generally responsible for its research, design, manufacture, and experiment. Under the leadership of Professor Cheng, over 30 scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) solved the problem of temperature control with respect to the operation of electromagnet in the space. The AMS has successfully gone through various extreme conditions in the past two-year operation in the Space Station and the thermal system, developed by researchers from Shandong University, deserves much of the credit.

Since the announcement of the experiment result on April 3rd, this project has garnered much international media attention and coverage. The Cable News Network (CNN), Associated Press, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Reuters, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) and YAHOO among others did in-depth coverage of the experiment. In the extensive coverage of both domestic and foreign media, Shandong University showed strong merits of research and enhanced its reputation both in and out of China. This embodies high-level international collaboration between universities and establishes a firm platform for the globalization of Shandong University. It is another important step for SDU in its goal of becoming one of the top-ranked universities in the world. The links to the media coverage are listed below.

1. CERN press office,AMS Collaboration— First Result from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Experiment

http://press.web.cern.ch/backgrounders/first-result-ams-experiment

http://www.ams02.org/2013/04/first-results-from-the-alpha-magnetic-spectrometer-ams-experiment/

2. CERN press office,www.interactions.org— AMS experiment measures antimatter excess in space

http://press.web.cern.ch/press-releases/2013/04/ams-experiment-measures-antimatter-excess-space

http://www.interactions.org/cms/?pid=1032740

3. CNN— Space station detector gives first clues to ‘dark matter’

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/04/world/europe/space-dark-matter/index.html?iref=allsearch

4. DOE/US Department of Energy, Science Daily, R & D Magazine— First Data Released from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130403200308.htm

http://www.rdmag.com/news/2013/04/first-data-released-alpha-magnetic-spectrometer

5. SciTech Daily— AMS Announces the First Results in Its Search for Dark Matter

http://scitechdaily.com/ams-announces-the-first-results-in-its-search-for-dark-matter/

6. BBC —Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer zeroes in on dark matter

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22016504

7. NASA— Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Team Publishes First Findings

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/ams_on_station.html

8. YAHOO— NASA Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Detects Hints of Dark Matter

http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-alpha-magnetic-spectrometer-detects-hints-dark-matter-181100900.html

9. Agence France Presse— First Results Announced in Search for Dark Matter

http://www.afp.com/en/node/886612

10. Reuters— Scientists Close in on Mysterious Dark Matter

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/03/science-darkmatter-idUSL5N0CQ2NF20130403

11. Xinhua, People's Daily Online, China.org.cn— AMS announces first results in search for dark matter

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-04/03/c_132283285.htm

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/202936/8195018.html

http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2013-04/03/content_28444067.htm

12. Xinhua, People's Daily Online, China.org.cn, Sina, Shanghai Daily— Scientists contribute in search for dark matter

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2013-04/05/c_132286188.htm

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/202936/8195695.html

http://www.china.org.cn/china/Off_the_Wire/2013-04/05/content_28453111.htm

http://english.sina.com/technology/2013/0404/578687.html

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/login.asp?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shanghaidaily.com%2Farticle%2Farticle_xinhua.asp%3Fid%3D134988

13. Science World Report— Antimatter and Dark Matter Hunters Publish First Results of Space Experiment AMS

http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/5994/20130403/antimatter-dark-matter-hunters-publish-first-results-space-experiment-ams.htm

14. Popular Science (PopSci)— Space Station's Giant Antimatter Magnet Finds Abundance Of Mysterious Particles

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-04/antimatter-magnet-flying-space-station-finds-new-clues-pointing-dark-matter

15. Ars Technica— Particle detector in space has mixed news on dark matter

http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/particle-detector-in-space-has-mixed-news-on-dark-matter/

Source: Institute of Thermal Science and Technology of Shandong University