Work starts on a massive underground neutrino experiment

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...

NASA’s Antarctica balloons will study cosmic rays and neutrinos

Antarctica is ideal for launching high-altitude science balloons this time of year. You not only get non-stop sunlight (ideal for solar power), but wind patterns that keep those balloons over land. And NASA is determined to take advantage of this....

Dark Energy Chameleon Particles Studied in an Experiment


Experiments get conducted time after time. But such an experiment as Holger Muller and his fellow researchers carried out at UC Berkley are seldom seen. They plan to find chameleons which are...

Dark Energy Chameleon Particles Studied in an Experiment


Experiments get conducted time after time. But such an experiment as Holger Muller and his fellow researchers carried out at UC Berkley are seldom seen. They plan to find chameleons which are...

Cosmic Neutrinos Exist Confirm Scientists


A team of scientists from Antarctica have confirmed the existence of Cosmic Neutrinos. Cosmic Neutrinos are tiny energy filled particles. Neutrinos are considered to be from far out in the Milky Way....

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

NOvA

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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CERN admits faulty kit to blame for speedy neutrinos, says it’s all relative

CERN admits faulty kit to blame for speedy neutrinos, claims it's all relative

Those pesky neutrinos, they sure did cause a kerfuffle. The scientific community held its collective breath when research published by CERN suggested that the little guys had been caught traveling at an Einstein-defying 3.7 miles per second faster than light. Naturally there was a mixture of doubt and excited disbelief, but everything needed to be triple checked before any paradigms could meet any windows. And alas, it was all to unravel once flaws were identified. CERN has finally admitted faulty kit was to blame, with it's research director Sergio Bertolucci conceding "A coherent picture has emerged with both previous and new data pointing to a neutrino velocity consistent with the speed of light." The final chapter in this story took place at the International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics in Kyoto today, with Bertolucci also commenting that, at the very least, the story captured the public imagination, pointing out that "An unexpected result was put up for scrutiny, thoroughly investigated and resolved in part thanks to collaboration between normally competing experiments. That's how science moves forward."

[Image credit: Getty Images]

CERN admits faulty kit to blame for speedy neutrinos, says it's all relative originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 09:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Neutrinos could deliver millisecond advantage to cyborg Gordon Gekkos

Neutrinos could deliver millisecond advantage to cyborg gordon gekkos

In a world where stocks are traded based on price changes monitored at the millisecond level, every sliver of a speed advantage gained counts. And, to get that edge, financial firms will go to almost any lengths, including building high powered particle accelerators in their basements. Well, at least that's what we imagine. Banks and high-frequency trading companies are looking to the neutrino as a potential communications tool. Scientists have already shown that the subatomic particles can travel through walls, now there's every reason to believe messages could be passed straight through the Earth, saving up to 44 milliseconds on each communique. Of course, there's one problem with this idea -- creating neutrinos currently requires either a nuclear reactor or a particle accelerator, something even the largest of financial firms don't usually keep on hand. Either the world's banks will have to snatch up CERN or build their own atom smashers. Neither of which seems like it's very likely to happen in the immediate future.

Neutrinos could deliver millisecond advantage to cyborg Gordon Gekkos originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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