Dark matter accounts for approximately 85% of the universe’s total mass, yet its “invisibility” continues to challenge our understanding of physics. While the Standard Model has successfully described the structure of the visible universe, its limitations have driven scientists to explore ultralight exotic bosons—such as axions and dark photons—as motivative candidates for dark matter. Theoretical studies suggest that such new bosons could mediate exotic spin-dependent interactions beyond four fundamental forces, providing new avenues for detecting ultralight dark matter. However, terrestrial exotic-interaction searches have long been constrained by a fundamental trade-off: enhancing the signal of exotic spin interactions requires simultaneously increasing both the number of polarized spins and relative velocity, parameters that are inherently inversely coupled under laboratory conditions, leaving vast regions of theoretical parameter space unexplored.

Professor Xinhua Peng and Professor Min Jiang from the University of Science and Technology of China, in collaboration with multiple research institutions, have proposed the SQUIRE (Space-based QuantUm sensing for Interaction and exotic bosons Research Exploration) program—a space-based dark matter detection project. For the first time internationally, SQUIRE plans to deploy ultrasensitive quantum sensors aboard the China Space Station to search for potential exotic interactions mediated by dark matter candidate particles between the Earth’s geoelectron spins and the sensor spins. The scheme is projected to improve detection sensitivity by more than 7 orders of magnitude compared to terrestrial experiments. Furthermore, SQUIRE is expected to pave the way for a “space-ground integrated” quantum sensing network, opening new pathways for dark matter exploration in deep space. This paper was published on September 22 in National Science Review under the title “Quantum Sensors in Space: Unveiling the Invisible Universe.”

The Institute for Fusion Science installed the "Hyperspectral Camera for Auroral Imaging (HySCAI)" in Kiruna, Sweden, in May 2023 and commenced full-scale observations in September of the same year. A research group led by Professor Katsumi Iida and Assistant Professor Mikio Yoshinuma from the National Institute for Fusion Science, Professor Yusuke Ebihara from the Institute for Advanced Studies on Human Survival and Environmental Science at Kyoto University, and Professor Kazuo Shiokawa from the Institute for Space and Earth Environmental Research at Nagoya University has now succeeded in observing the altitude distribution of blue nitrogen ion (N₂⁺) auroras emitting light during astronomical twilight using HySCAI. This research developed a completely novel method, utilizing the phenomenon where the altitude at which sunlight illuminates the aurora changes as twilight progresses. This enabled precise observation of the altitude distribution of the nitrogen ion's emission intensity. The peak was found to be located at an altitude of approximately 200 km, exhibiting extremely high intensity.