Flying cars could be one step closer thanks to a study on dark matter and energy conducted by Australian and international scientists.
The researchers were part of an international team that included 400 scientists across six continents.
![This Hubble Space Telescope composite image shows a ghostly "ring" of dark matter in the galaxy cluster.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170826133901im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/f/r/m/5/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxpv0k.png/1502024852729.jpg)
The Dark Energy Survey led to the creation of the most accurate map of universe and supported the theory that 26 per cent of the universe was dark matter and energy.
Dark matter has never been observed and researchers only knew what it was not, but the theory of its existence would explain anomalies which have puzzled scientists.
University of Queensland astrophysics professor Tamara Davis was one of the Australian researchers that contributed to the project.
"Dark matter is the scaffolding that holds galaxies together, they spin way too fast to hold themselves together," she said.
"The stuff that makes up you and I makes up no more than 5 per cent of the universe.
"We know of two big dark things that are out there, we've got dark matter holding things together and dark energy pushing things apart."
Professor Davis said, in order to find out how much dark matter existed in the universe, researchers looked at the position of galaxies.
A process known as gravitational lensing, in which earthbound light from distant galaxies bends in 'curved space', warping what is seen on Earth, was important to the success of the study.
"By looking at how much the images of the galaxies are warped we can tell how much mass is between us and the galaxy and how it is distributed," Professor Davis said.
"If we look at how much the galaxies are distorted we can actually map the mass between us and them, because it's the mass causing the light to bend.
"That is the really new part of this.
"That is how we map not just the light we can see, but the dark matter we cannot see, because the light is being warped by all the stuff we cannot see."
Australian scientists had a specific focus on figuring out where the different galaxies sat in space, with the Anglo-Australian Telescope in New South Wales used to identify the position of galaxies identified by the project's main camera.
Professor Davis said the project had made progress towards identifying what exactly dark matter and energy was, a prospect that could lead to huge technological advances.
"When we learn what this stuff is … we might find out we can use it," she said.
"Dark energy seems to have repulsive gravity, so if we can start to learn to control gravity we won't need rockets to get off earth, we can just make it up into space.
"Maybe we can make those hovering cars like in Star Wars."