Dark matter has been the talk of the town in Stawell for about five years, since the first mention of funding for the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory.
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The project is a proposed laboratory 1 kilometre deep in the Stawell Goldmine
Stawell Secondary College has three year 11 students studying physics in 2019, a number which teacher Nicolas Oliver said he hoped would grow over time.
"Dark matter is part of our current curriculum," Mr Oliver said.
"As a person who has an interest in science. This is really exciting stuff.
"I have been told there is potential the project could turn into an educational experience.
"They seem pretty open to the concept - which would be fantastic not only just for students in the region but the idea of bringing school groups through the town could be a big economic boost."
Mr Oliver said dark matter was nothing to be afraid of and if it is found it could create a flow-on effect of jobs.
"There is a never-ending job cycle in science fields," he said.
"My students I teach at the moment could be working in jobs or fields in 10 years time which doesn't exist yet.
"I'm sure there would be plenty of opportunities to be involved with the project in some way."
Lachlan Dalkin, Max Waters and Patrick Wemyss are the three students in Mr Oliver's year 11 physics class.
"We all agree the project is pretty exciting," Mr Dalkin said.
"We don't study too much about dark matter. We've spoken about it in class and discussed what the opportunities could mean if scientists can match the results of the experiments in the northern hemisphere.
"It fluctuates with seasons. They want to do experiments on our side of the world to see if it is the opposite here.
"If it is opposite, that means it's seasonal and it could be something else. If it matches up exactly it has nothing to do with the seasons and scientists can take a deeper look into it."
Mr Dalkin said despite dark matter being the unknown, people need to remember that matter is all around us.
"Dark matter covers 21 per cent of the universe and doesn't emit light, hence the name," he said.
"Because we have 'normal' particles and dark matter particles it could potentially open up extra dimensions of the universe.
"There could be things that exist right next to us which we can't see, touch or sense because they don't emit light."
Mr Dalkin said since the announcement for the go-ahead of the laboratory, it has made him think about his career path.
"It is so close to home it certainly does make you think of the possibilities of the future," he said.
"It's having a difference here it could be happening all over the world.
"I want to study something within the science field but I'm not sure."
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