  The differential event rate for direct detection of dark matter, both the
time averaged and the modulated one due to the motion of the Earth, are
discussed. The calculations focus on relatively light cold dark matter
candidates (WIMP) and low energy transfers. It is shown that for sufficiently
light WIMPs the extraction of relatively large nucleon cross sections is
possible. Furthermore for some WIMP masses the modulation amplitude may change
sign, meaning that, in such a case, the maximum rate may occur six months later
than naively expected. This effect can be exploited to yield information about
the mass of the dark matter candidate, if and when the observation of the
modulation of the event rate is established.
