An illustration of self-interacting dark matter at the heart of a spiral galaxy. (Image credit: Robert Lea (created with Canva))

A new type of self-interacting dark matter could provide solutions to three very different cosmic puzzles, new research suggests.

The first mystery that could be solved involves an ultradense clump of matter detected in the system JVAS B1938+666 , which is gravitationally lensed, or visibly distorted, thanks to a quirk of general relativity . The second has to do with a visible "scar" in a stream of stars called GD-1 . It basically looks like a dense, invisible object ripped through the stream.…