~SNIP~
Muon detector could point scientists to hidden burial chambers
Two vendors sit near the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan, where physicists are using a muon detector to look for hidden burial chambers.
By Alistair Bell
Updated: 4:58 p.m. ET March 16, 2004TEOTIHUACAN, Mexico - Remnants of space dust that constantly shower the world are helping unlock the secrets of a 2,000-year-old Mexican pyramid where the rulers of a mysterious civilization may lie buried.
Deep under the huge Pyramid of the Sun, north of Mexico City, physicists are installing a device to detect muons, subatomic particles that are left over when cosmic rays hit Earth.
The particles pass through solid objects, leaving tiny traces which the detector will measure, like an X-ray machine, in a search for burial chambers inside the monolith.
Since there are fewer muons in an empty space than in solid rock or earth, scientists will be able to spot any holes inside the pyramid, a sacred site in the city of Teotihuacan, which rose and fell around the same time as ancient Rome.
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link:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4540266/