South Pole Telescope will study ‘noise’ from the early universe

Posted on 10/09/2018 by Engadget RSS Feed

Scientists just got a valuable tool in their quest to understand the cosmic microwave background radiation that persists from the earliest days of the universe. The South Pole Telescope recently received an ultra-sensitive camera that will study the...

Physicists keep striking out in the search for dark matter

Posted on 29/11/2017 by Engadget RSS Feed

Space may be the final frontier, but we've barely begun to explore its underlying mechanics. For as much as humanity has discovered since we first looked to the heavens, we've only seen about 15 percent of the total matter in the universe. The other...

Work starts on a massive underground neutrino experiment

Posted on 24/07/2017 by Engadget RSS Feed

Neutrinos are notoriously difficult to understand, but work is underway to know them a little better. Researchers have officially broken ground on the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility, the home to the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experimen...

Fermilab NOvA Experiment Sees First Proof of Neutrinos Change Over 500 Miles

Posted on 10/08/2015 by sumayah

Scientists conducted the NOvA experiment. And it confirmed that neutrinos oscillated in their journeys. The supersensitive detector functioned well and showed the behavior of these phantasmagoric...

NOvA neutrino detector captures cosmic rays in 3D, aims to unlock the mysteries of the universe

Posted on 28/03/2013 by Joseph Volpe

All apologies accepted if you mistook that image above as cover art for Daft Punk's new album -- it's not (although the duo should consider it.). That Tron-ish, equalizer-like graphic is actually a 3D representation of particle activity left behind by cosmic rays interacting within NOvA, the Department of Energy's under construction neutrino detector. It's the first such visual record made possible by the University of Minnesota-operated facility that, when completed, will extend for more than 200 feet underground in an area near the Canadian border and endure regular bombardment by a controlled stream of neutrinos. Beyond its obvious visual appeal, data like this should give physicists at the DOE's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory insight into the nature of neutrinos (some of which are said to have been issued from the Big Bang) and, by extension, the origins of our ever-expanding universe. For now, though, the project's still in the baby steps phase -- only 12 feet of the detector (the currently operational portion) has been successfully built out -- so the reality-shattering, scientific epiphanies will have to wait. Until then, it's all still life as we safely know it.

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DECam: Gazing deep into the final frontier in search of dark energy

Posted on 19/09/2012 by James Trew

The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) puts it into perspective right away: "Eight billion years ago, rays of light from distant galaxies began their long journey to Earth." It's important to hold that fact in mind, as we marvel at the first images from deep in the belly of our universe to arrive from the Chile-based Dark Energy Camera (DECam). As that name might suggest, peering at remote galaxies for purely visual gratification isn't the camera's primary purpose. The result of eight years of planning and hard work, involving engineers and scientists from three continents, the DECam is mounted on the Victor M. Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Sitting atop a 7,200-foot mountain, the camera is part of the Dark Energy Survey, which intends to gather information on over 300 million galaxies. The goal is to better understand dark energy -- a concept that represents our best explanation for why the universe's rate of expansion is speeding up, rather than slowing due to gravity. Gaze past the break for the background on the project.

Gallery: Dark Energy Camera achieves first light