Posted on 01/03/2011 9:44:44 AM PST by Silentgypsy
The world's largest neutrino telescope – made from a giant cube of ice at the South Pole – aimed at detecting subatomic particles traveling near the speed of light has been completed, researchers announced today (Dec. 20). http://www.livescience.com/environment/south-pole-neutrino-observatory-construction-finished-101220.html
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Sure, it’s all fun and games until global warming hits.
The South Pole is famous for its ice...just sayin’
If it's aimed at subatomic particles... wouldn't that make it a microscope?
This thing stands to wipe out every polar bear in Antarctica.
I wish Asimov was here to see this.
IIRC he wrote a story about a robot who, lacking proper tools and materials, built a neutrino from a couple of batteries.
Actually, I just wish he was still with us — the same for Heinlein (who, I would hope, would have overcome his impatience).
So they shoulda built it out of something else?
Maybe because the little neutrinos are so far away, it should be called a pgyanke microtelescope.
It is apparent that you don’t take your neutrinos seriously. *No neutrinos for you!*
Love and kisses,
The Neutrino Nazi
So, vanilla ice/ice baby wasn’t available for science?
“If it’s aimed at subatomic particles... wouldn’t that make it a microscope?”
It’s detecting neutrinos coming from outer space, just like an optical telescope detects and focuses photons (even smaller than neutrinos) to see planets and stars.
How do they aim this thing?
Ahhhh... Thank you for clearing that up.
No aiming, they just look for collisions between neutrinos and atoms in the surrounding ice. Collisions are relatively rare, since almost all neutrinos go straight through the Earth. With a billion or so square meters of ice to look at, and neutrinos constantly zipping through Earth, they hope to see one collision every 20 minutes.
Somehow those ice hotels in Sweden don’t seem so impressive, now.
Somehow those ice hotels in Sweden don’t seem so impressive, now.
I understand that, but if it’s a telescope they have to be “looking” at something in space, so how do they know what they’re “looking at” if it’s not aimed at something?
It’s not a study of neutrinos it’s a study of the source of neutrinos, just like an optical telescope is not a study of photons, but a study of the body that emitted (or reflected, as in the case of planets) those photons.
Interesting semantic argument. A telescope detects X (radio waves, photons, X-rays, gamma rays, etc.) from a source. This one detects neutrinos. Every telescope has an angle of view. You could consider this one to have a 360 degree angle of view, omnidirectional I guess.
In any case, this and its smaller predecessors are considered to be telescopes.
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