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Science

800,000 Tons of Rock Excavated for Massive Underground Neutrino Detector (energy.gov) 33

800,000 tons of rock have been excavated from a South Dakota research facility — part of a multi-year process "to help answer some of physics' biggest questions," writes America's Energy Department.

"The caverns they excavated will hold a massive particle detector and accompanying equipment." Along with partners from more than 35 countries, the Department of Energy's Office of Science is supporting the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment at the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF-DUNE)... To study how neutrinos change type as they travel, LBNF-DUNE will be sending a stream of neutrinos from DOE's Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois [nearly 600 miles away] to South Dakota. At the beginning and end of the particles' journey, detectors will measure the types of neutrinos and antineutrinos. By comparing the rates of how both particles change type, scientists may find a difference that accounts for that ancient misalignment.
There's also hope they'll detect neutrinos from supernovae explosions — and maybe even decaying protons LBNF-DUNE will use massive, seven-story tall detectors. Each detector will have 17,000 tons of liquid argon. That vast quantity of liquid maximizes the likelihood that scientists will detect as many neutrinos as possible. The far detector — the one in South Dakota — will be located about a mile underground. That distance places it in the right location compared to Fermilab and blocks the detector from other cosmic particles.
"Just carrying out the excavation took three years," the announcement notes. ("The team had to dissemble the equipment, move it deep underground, and then reassemble it.) The 800,000 tons of rock were moved to the surface and then stored in a former mine.

"Now that the excavation is complete, the LBNF-DUNE team is moving on to the next steps. Currently, they are installing the far detector in the Sanford Underground Research Facility. They anticipate finishing construction and starting to operate the detector in 2028. The team will then move on to installing the near detector at Fermilab.

"The launch of LBNF/DUNE will be the beginning of a new era in understanding neutrinos and knowing more about our universe as a whole."

800,000 Tons of Rock Excavated for Massive Underground Neutrino Detector

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  • I glanced over TFA and I couldn't confirm this but; any reasons they didn't use dynamite?

    Tunnels through rock usually use that method. It's been used for railway tunnels etc. for ages.

    Even in a city where I lived, they used dynamite to clear the rock under a street to install new water and sewer bigger pipes deeper than the old ones although in another city with the same use case, I have been told dynamiting was forbidden by that city in their case so it took them ages compared to the other city.

    Anyway, may

    • I glanced over TFA and I couldn't confirm this but; any reasons they didn't use dynamite?

      Tunnels through rock usually use that method. It's been used for railway tunnels etc. for ages.

      Even in a city where I lived, they used dynamite to clear the rock under a street to install new water and sewer bigger pipes deeper than the old ones although in another city with the same use case, I have been told dynamiting was forbidden by that city in their case so it took them ages compared to the other city.

      Anyway, maybe it would have taken less time than 3 years using dynamite if indeed they didn't use any and I assume they are far from any city.

      Or, maybe they did use dynamite but don't mention to sound somehow more politically correct. My inquiring mind is curious...

      There is a link in TFA to an article about the construction https://news.fnal.gov/2021/05/... [fnal.gov] It doesn't mention dynamite as such but "blasting".

    • For doing tunnels that are long and uniform, blasting comes out as more expensive and takes longer to do.
      Blasting can be done for a small area and with little setup.
      https://bestsupportunderground... [bestsuppor...ground.com]
  • It hadn't occurred to me that neutrinos could be generated with a preferred direction. Would someone care to explain how it is done?
    I asked Gemini and I post excerpts form its replies. I'm confident enough to reject one but I don't know about the other
    - How can one send a stream of neutrinos?
    -- "By colliding high-energy particles (like protons or electrons) in a particle accelerator, neutrinos can be produced as a byproduct. These neutrinos can then be directed using magnetic fields, but controlling t
    • by necro81 ( 917438 )

      It hadn't occurred to me that neutrinos could be generated with a preferred direction.

      You cannot steer a beam of neutrinos using magnetic fields - they are neutral particles. What you can do is generate and steer a beam of more easily-controlled particles - particles that readily decay into neutrinos.

      This page from Fermilab [fnal.gov] describes the process. They start with a high-energy proton beam going in roughly the right direction. The proton beam hits a graphite target, creating a spray of collision produ

  • Stop neutrino change now!
  • And what do they hope accomplish ? What's the goal ? Teleport ?? Time travel ? Warp drive ? Create warp hole ? Better microwave oven ? Death ray ?? Figure out how aliens travel in their space crafts ???
    • <irony> They want to build a large shelter to hide in when right-wing nut jobs take control. The description should keep them away, as these people are also very wary of science. </irony>
  • ... while we waste money on vanity science. How about we take care of our real responsibilities first? Before we fund upper class kids science projects with tax dollars that could be much better spent? This is classism and this is corruption, this is not science.

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