City of Arts and Sciences hosts dark matter talk on 26 October
Published on 10/24/2026 at 19:05 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWSScience programme and public access
- The Museu de les Ciències and IFIC organise the 26 October 2026 lecture in Valencia.
- Maria Luisa Sarsa will discuss evidence for dark matter and the ANAIS experiment.
- The session forms part of the ninth Dark Matter Day programme at the science museum.
A Dark Matter Day lecture at City of Arts and Sciences (Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències) in Valencia is scheduled for 26 October 2026. The session will examine evidence for dark matter and the search for it through the ANAIS experiment.
Dark Matter Day lecture comes to the science museum
The Museu de les Ciències is organising the lecture with the Institute of Corpuscular Physics, known as IFIC, on Monday 26 October at 7pm. The event will take place in the museum auditorium as part of Dark Matter Day, an international science communication occasion held around 31 October.
Physicist Maria Luisa Sarsa from the University of Zaragoza will lead the session. The programme lists the lecture under the title The dark matter wind in the Aragonese Pyrenees, focusing on the evidence that points to dark matter and on attempts to detect it directly in underground laboratories.
The announcement describes the 26 October programme as a collaboration between the museum and IFIC, a joint centre of the Spanish National Research Council and the University of Valencia. That institutional link places the talk within the scientific work represented at the Valencia complex, rather than presenting it as a general city event.
How the ANAIS experiment connects with Valencia
Sarsa will also discuss results from ANAIS, an experiment carried out at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory in the Aragonese Pyrenees. Its research tests independently a yearly variation reported by the DAMA/LIBRA experiment, a signal that has been considered compatible with the Earth passing through a halo of dark matter around the galaxy.
Dark matter remains unidentified in nature, although its gravitational effects provide important evidence that it exists. The lecture therefore connects a question about the composition and evolution of the universe with a public programme inside the Museu de les Ciències, one of the principal scientific venues in the complex.
The museum auditorium is also used for the autumn programme of talks and astronomy activities. An earlier programme lists the 26 October session with IFIC and identifies the Santiago Grisolía Auditorium as the venue, while the current event notice specifies the museum auditorium. The autumn science programme also places the event within a wider schedule covering artificial intelligence, astronomy and scientific outreach.
From dark matter research to wider science outreach
The 26 October meeting is the ninth Dark Matter Day activity planned by the Valencia science complex. Its subject extends beyond a single lecture because the programme covers experimental evidence, underground detection methods and the interpretation of astronomical signals.
For visitors, the event offers a clearly defined science-focused appointment at the museum rather than a change to the complex itself. The subject is linked to the surrounding research community through IFIC, the CSIC and the University of Valencia, while the speaker brings expertise in atomic, molecular and nuclear physics.
Visiting City of Arts and Sciences: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- The Dark Matter Day lecture takes place on 26 October 2026 in the Museu de les Ciències auditorium in Valencia.
- The session begins at 7pm and centres on Maria Luisa Sarsa, dark matter evidence and the ANAIS experiment.
- The lecture is organised by the Museu de les Ciències with the Institute of Corpuscular Physics, linking the venue with Spanish university and research institutions.
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Frequently asked questions about City of Arts and Sciences
When does Dark Matter Day take place at City of Arts and Sciences?
The lecture takes place on 26 October 2026 at the Museu de les Ciències in Valencia. It is part of the wider Dark Matter Day programme associated with 31 October.
What will the dark matter lecture cover?
Maria Luisa Sarsa will discuss evidence for dark matter, underground detection methods and results from the ANAIS experiment in the Aragonese Pyrenees.
Where is City of Arts and Sciences?
The complex is in Valencia, Spain, and includes the Museu de les Ciències, where the 26 October 2026 lecture is scheduled.
