Abstract: Dark matter is the dominant form of matter in the universe. Seen only by its gravity, we know what it isn't ordinary baryonic matter but not what it is. However cosmology provides an intriguing hint: any new, massive, stable particle at the weak-scale of particle physics would have frozen out in the big bang and be plentiful enough today to be some, if not all, of the dark matter. Such particles, called WIMPs, are also a generic prediction of supersymmetry. WIMPs in the Milky Way may be detectable by a variety of means, the most straightforward of which is by scattering in a terrestrial detector. Despite enormous interest in detecting WIMPS over nearly two decades, the best WIMP searches are only now beginning to probe the highest rates predicted by supersymmetry. A critical search requires detectors with 3-4 orders of magnitude increase in sensitivity. This is problematic with current technologies, but a new detector based on liquid xenon appears capable of meeting this challenge. I will explain why, and discus the status and prospects of the newly formed XENON experiment.