A billion-dollar dark matter experiment could bring hundreds of millions of pounds to the national and local economy if an underground laboratory near Whitby is chosen to host the project.
A major economic injection of up to £587 million could boost the national economy if an underground laboratory just north of Whitby is selected to host a pioneering dark matter project.
The UK is currently in the running to secure the potentially Nobel Prize-winning XLZD experiment. The nation is competing directly against the United States, Italy, and Canada to secure the billion-dollar scientific endeavour.
The XLZD experiment is a proposed, next-generation global liquid-xenon observatory designed to search for dark matter, neutrinoless double-beta decay, and astrophysical neutrinos.
Decades of research looking for dark matter have already established the local area as one of the world's leading places for physics experiments.
A concerted political effort is now underway to ensure the facility at Boulby Mine is chosen to assist with the ground-breaking work, rather than alternative UK sites such as Jodrell Bank.
Scarborough and Whitby MP Alison Hume said:
"I've just organised a letter to the Prime Minister from all the North East MPs saying, don't just look at Jodrell Bank, what about Boulby Underground Laboratory? It would contribute around £587 million to the national economy through construction, highly-skilled employment, increased demand across supply chains and international investment, and it's a billion dollar experiment, money coming in from all around the world. So, this little hidden treasure is one of our greatest assets. And, you know, I'm sure people in Whitby know that scientists that work at Boulby also use our hotels, accommodation, restaurants."
Dark matter is invisible matter that does not emit or reflect light, but whose gravity affects how galaxies and the wider Universe behave.
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