From Pele to Dark Matter: Indigenous Knowledge and Underground Detectors at New Scientist Live

Summary

In a New Scientist Live session, geologist Angela Cadwall discusses the Hawaiian Islands formation via a mantle plume and shares the Pele myth to connect indigenous storytelling with scientific understanding of rocks and landscape. The conversation extends to how indigenous knowledge guides scientists in natural hazard mitigation in places like Aotearoa New Zealand. Physicist Champa Gag then describes the dark matter search using the LZ detector, located a mile underground in the Bowlby Mine near the Black Hills, highlighting the extreme care needed to minimize backgrounds and the surprising Xenon-124 background that reshapes future detector design. Psychologist Daniel Yn adds insights into how brain chemistry can influence belief and openness to new ideas. The panel emphasizes respectful cross-disciplinary dialogue and the unity of geology, indigenous wisdom, physics, and neuroscience in advancing credible science.

Introduction

The panel brings together geologist Angela Cadwall, physicist Champa Gag, and psychologist neuroscientist Daniel Yn at New Scientist Live to explore how science and indigenous knowledge coexist and enrich each other. The discussion spans deep time, volcanic processes, and modern experiments searching for dark matter, framed by a reverence for rock, land, and mind.

Indigenous Knowledge and Geology

Cadwall shares her new book and explains how Western geology and indigenous Hawaiians read the same rock record differently yet benefit from each other. The Hawaiian Islands form as the Pacific Plate moves over a mantle plume, producing seafloor volcanoes that grow into islands when volcanic activity rises above sea level. Indigenous Hawaiian narratives, like the story of Pele the fire goddess, encode observational knowledge of volcanoes and landscape changes. The discussion highlights how such oral histories provide cultural context and practical guidance for living with natural hazards and learning from geological processes.

Cross-Cultural Science in Hazard Planning

The conversation moves to Aotearoa New Zealand where Maori communities collaborate with geologists to mitigate hazards such as lahars. Indigenous knowledge informs scientists on how to engage ethically and empathetically with natural processes, illustrating a collaborative model that benefits communities facing climate-related hazards.

Dark Matter Detection and the LZ Experiment

Champa Gag discusses the challenges of detecting dark matter, which interacts feebly with ordinary matter. To maximize chances of observing rare events, experiments must be located deep underground, shielded from cosmic rays, and constructed from ultra-pure materials to minimize background signals. The LZ detector, housed roughly a mile underground in the Bowlby Mine in South Dakota, uses about 80 tons of liquid xenon and a multi-detector setup to search for faint signals that could indicate dark matter.

Unexpected Backgrounds and Detector Physics

A surprising background emerges from Xenon-124 decay, prompting deeper investigations into atomic physics and background modeling. This discovery underscores how pushing experimental boundaries reveals new phenomena that refine future detector design and analysis, turning potential false signals into opportunities to improve understanding of fundamental processes.

Brain, Belief, and Misinformation

Daniel Yn brings a neuroscience perspective, describing how neuromodulators like noradrenaline shape how firmly we hold our beliefs and how open we are to changing them. The discussion covers implications for misinformation and conspiracy theories, suggesting that brain chemistry interacts with our environment to influence belief dynamics and openness to new ideas.

Ethics, Humility, and Takeaways

Across disciplines, the panel emphasizes humility when studying rock and mind, and the importance of engaged, ethical collaboration with Indigenous communities. The session demonstrates how credible science emerges from cross-field dialogue, careful experimental design, and respectful interpretation of both ancient stories and modern data.