Deep under Antarctic ice, a long-predicted cosmic whisper breaks through
1–10 of 47 posts
Re: Deep under Antarctic ice, a long-predicted cosmic whisper breaks through
#2Just read the title and thought "Not now Cthulu, we've got enough going on"
Re: Deep under Antarctic ice, a long-predicted cosmic whisper breaks through
#3Summary for those who won't fight through four blocking pop-ups to read the article:
When a high-energy particle (cosmic ray, say) hits ice, it creates an interaction cascade. (Think of what the Fly's Eye experiment sees, but in ice.) That interaction cascade creates (among other things) a radio signal. This detector is a radio detector under Antarctic ice, looking for exactly that.
The point is that, if a high-energy neutrino were to hit the ice, it could create the same kind of cascade, but it would make it much further into the ice. By having multiple detectors, they can pin down the location, and so they can try to tell the difference between "regular" cosmic rays and high-energy neutrinos.
The detector seems to be functioning as designed. They have seven candidate neutrino interactions.
Re: Deep under Antarctic ice, a long-predicted cosmic whisper breaks through
#4Is it just ice? I thought most neutrino detectors were large underground pools of water. I mean ... tomāto/tomăto, yes, but is solid water better than liquid water?
Re: Deep under Antarctic ice, a long-predicted cosmic whisper breaks through
#5Is it just ice? I thought most neutrino detectors were large underground pools of water. I mean ... tomāto/tomăto, yes, but is solid water better than liquid water?
The size of the detector can be very large, stable, and protected with an ice cap. https://icecube.wisc.edu/science/icecube/
There aren't a lot of places with multiple km of water without things like animal life or other confounders.
Re: Deep under Antarctic ice, a long-predicted cosmic whisper breaks through
#6Summary for those who won't fight through four blocking pop-ups to read the article: When a high-energy particle (cosmic ray, say) hits ice, it creates an interaction cascade. (Think of what the Fly's Eye experiment sees, but in ice.) That interaction cascade creates (among other things) a radio signal. This detector is a radio detector under Antarctic ice, looking for exactly that. The point is that, if a high-energ…
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Re: Deep under Antarctic ice, a long-predicted cosmic whisper breaks through
#7Pluribus, be careful
Re: Deep under Antarctic ice, a long-predicted cosmic whisper breaks through
#8> With a new data release expected soon, covering all five ARA stations over several years, the ARA team now anticipates up to seven candidate neutrino events.
I love the patience involved in this kind of science.
Re: Deep under Antarctic ice, a long-predicted cosmic whisper breaks through
#9Is it just ice? I thought most neutrino detectors were large underground pools of water. I mean ... tomāto/tomăto, yes, but is solid water better than liquid water?
The size of the detector can be very large, stable, and protected with an ice cap. https://icecube.wisc.edu/science/icecube/ There aren't a lot of places with multiple km of water without things like animal life or other confounders.
So, [controlled] liquid water is better but [controlled] solid water is more abundant?
Re: Deep under Antarctic ice, a long-predicted cosmic whisper breaks through
#10Just read the title and thought "Not now Cthulu, we've got enough going on"
Whereas i was thinking "it's about time a hero arrived!" ;)
i don't presume to know whether Cthulhu is the hero we need or the hero we deserve.