The hidden giants

[emad]

Under land and sea, in vast subterranean laboratories, scientists are working to uncover the secrets of the universe, from 'dark matter' to global warming
By Steve Connor
22 September 2004

The Independent



A paradox in science is that the smallest and most ubiquitous things imaginable can often only be detected by some of the biggest and most expensive scientific instruments ever built. And most of them are so sensitive they need to be shielded in deep subterranean caverns. The Kamioka Underground Observatory in Japan is housed in an old mine located 1,000 metres below ground. At its core is a giant tank of ultra-pure water weighing some 3,000 tons and surrounded by 1,000 highly sensitive light detectors.

The water tank is 16m high and 15.6m in diameter. The 1,000 photomultiplier tubes fitted around the inside of the tank are there to detect the tiny flashes of pale blue light that may be emitted as a certain subatomic particle travelling at the speed of light collides with the nucleus of a water molecule. This particle - called a neutrino - has achieved almost mythical status in physics.

The Nobel laureate Wolfgang Pauli predicted the existence of the neutrino - which means "little, neutral one" - in 1931, but it took a further 25 years to prove its existence. Physicists calculated that neutrinos must be emitted in their trillions in space as a result of the nuclear fusion reactions of the Sun and stars, and the gigantic stellar explosions of supernovae.

The problem with neutrinos, however, is that they are so small and so electrically neutral that they pass straight through most things without ever interacting with them. Billions of these ghostly elements pass through each and every one of us every second without any effect.

Much more:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=564268

[On the Road]

1. There's This Bizarre Theory That's Emerged Recently

that at the Big Band, all matter was once in the form of neutrinos, and then mutated into proton, electrons, and the other particles. The reason it was developed is to explain why matter and anti-matter are so disproportionate.

Just FYI. I thought it was fascinating.