British scientists are finalizing plans for an ambitious experiment to discover ancient, high-speed particles from the far side of the universe by listening to them plop into the ocean.
Trials are due to take place early next month in a 200m-deep trench between the west coast of the Scottish mainland and the Isle of Rona, where researchers will use sensitive hydrophones to hear the almost weightless particles as they slam into the sea with the energy of a tennis ball served by a professional player.
The particles, called ultra high energy neutrinos, have never been detected before, but physicists theorize that they must exist. They are thought to be created when powerful cosmic rays collide with particles of light left over from the Big Bang 14 billion years ago.
By detecting the neutrinos, scientists hope to shed light on the origins of cosmic rays and learn more about the structure of the universe soon after its violent birth.
By the time ultra high energy neutrinos reach Earth, they may have been travelling for billions of years across vast stretches of the universe. Scientists calculate that while a few are likely to strike a single square kilometer of the planet every year, the threat they pose to human health is minimal.
"The chance of being struck by one of these things is extremely small. Even if you were unlucky, you'd not feel anything at all because the energy would be dissipated through your body," said David Waters, of the Acoustic Cosmic Ray Neutrino Experiment.
When the particles strike the sea, they are expected to crash into oxygen or hydrogen nuclei and be obliterated in a shower of subatomic debris. Each collision will cause a 10m streak of water to heat up and rapidly expand, creating an acoustic shock wave. Because the temperature of the water only rises a fraction of a degree, the sound produced is too faint to be heard by the human ear.
Computer models used by the team at University College London have given the researchers a good idea of what a neutrino collision in the ocean should sound like. In the trials, they will head out over the submarine trench near Rona, lower an underwater microphone and play the neutrino soundwave. If hydrophones tethered to the seabed beneath pick it up, they will have proved in principle that they could hear a neutrino when it lands in the sea.
Earlier recordings from the hydrophones picked up a species of snapping shrimp which blasts out rapid clicks at the same frequency where the neutrino is expected.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique