Giant Deep-Sea Detector Hunts for Elusive Particles and Glowing Bacteria

[n2doc]

By Lisa Grossman May 27, 2011 | 7:00 am


The world's largest underwater neutrino telescope is starting to get results, as well as some bonus seismic and biological data.

The telescope, called Antares (Astronomy with a Neutrino Telescope and Abyss environmental RESearch), became the first deep-sea detector for the tiny neutral particles when it was completed in 2008. Located a mile-and-a-half beneath the surface of the Mediterranean, Antares waits patiently for streaks of upward-moving light, the signature of a neutrino passing through the Earth.

Pinpointing the sources of these hard-to-find particles could help resolve some of the most puzzling mysteries in physics, such as what cosmic rays are made of and what happens to stars when they explode as supernovas. But so far, the world's biggest and best neutrino telescopes have come up empty.

By looking at a different part of the sky than other neutrino telescopes, Antares may help speed the search. It's also the only neutrino telescope in the world that can detect bioluminescent bacteria and earthquakes.


more
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/05/antares-neutrinos/

[eppur_se_muova]

1. It slices! It dices! It detects neutrinos! nt