A Chinese lab has created a $300 million ‘ghost detector’ in a revolutionary innovation.
The tech breakthrough could finally unlock the secrets of ‘the other side’ but it might not be what you’re thinking.
No, it won't involve a seance.
Instead, the giant detector has been designed to analyze mysterious ghost particles also known as neutrinos.
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But what is a neutrino? Put simply, it is a subatomic particle that is very similar to an electron.
However, unlike an electron, a neutrino has no electrical charge and a very small mass.
Trillions of them move around our bodies every second but they’re mysterious because there are so few studies on neutrinos, despite them having been discovered nearly a century ago.
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They’ve also been around since the dawn of time, according to scientists, who believe that the particle dates all the way back to the Big Bang.
It’s hoped that more research into the particles will assist scientists in their pursuit of finding out more about the creation of the universe.
Now, a huge $300 million project to build a detector is almost complete.
It has taken the team at the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory in Kaiping, southern China nearly a decade to finish the work, which involved building the detector at a place located 2,297 feet underneath a granite hill.
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The firm isn’t the only one building this type of device, there are also competitors in the US and Japan but it looks like China has beaten them to it.
How does the ghost detector work?
The detector works by using a liquid that gives off light as neutrinos pass it by before submerging into purified water.
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Cao Jun, who is involved in managing the detector, said: “It’s the least understood particle in our world.”
Jun went on to say: “That’s why we need to study it.”
According to Andre de Gouvea, who is a theoretical physicist at Northwestern University and is not involved with the project, this innovation will push the world’s tech to new limits.
de Gouvea said: “If they can pull that off, it would be amazing.”
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The physicist went on to add: “The solution for how we measure these neutrinos is to build very, very big detectors.”
Wang Yifang, who is a chief scientist and a project manager involved in the building of this innovative tech, added: “In the end, we have a better understanding of the nature of physics.”