Dec 29 2010
An unusual underground observatory for studying the subatomic particles has been accomplished in a gigantic ice cube of about one kilometre on all sides deep under the South Pole.
Amundsen-Scott_observatory
A decade of extensive effort has been executed in the Antarctic tundra for the construction of this largest Ice Cube neutrino observatory, and will facilitate the researchers to explore the dark matter from the space particles that are imperceptible and constitute the maximum mass of the universe.
The 1,400 metres underground observatory, constructed close to the US Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, cost over $270 million. The Ice cube is made up of a grid of 5,160 optical sensing devices, each having the size of about a basketball, mounted on wires in 86 holes integrated deep into the ice. The scientists are investigating about the neutrinos, which are subatomic particles that travel at a speed closer to that of the light and are minute particles which pass through solid materials without crashing on any molecule. According to the researchers, the neutrinos were primarily generated during the Big Bang and are still produced by various nuclear reactions.
Source: http://www.southpolestation.com