Neutrinos are ghostly particles– no charge, hardly any mass, and yet they flood the universes. Born in locations like the Sun, taking off stars, and even the Big Bang itself, they race through us by the trillions every 2nd, quietly.
Here’s the twist: they’re nearly difficult to capture. That’s why researchers construct ultra-sensitive detectors, buried deep underground or below ice, in an effort to hear simply a faint “ping” from these evasive messengers. Even a single neutrino signal might expose tricks about deep space’s most remarkable occasions.
ANITA, a balloon-borne radio detector flying over Antarctica, was created to be all ears on ghostly particles, such as neutrinos, far from the loud human signals. Just recently, it chose up something far weirder: odd radio pulses increasing from underneath the ice when signals ought to’ve been coming from above.
This discovery has researchers scratching their heads. Could it be brand-new particles? Or unidentified physics rewording what we believed we understood?
The weird radio waves ANITA got originated from method listed below the ice, at angles so high– like 30 degrees– that they need to have taken a trip through countless kilometers of strong rock.
That’s an issue due to the fact that rock typically engulfs signals like that. By the time a regular radio wave made it through, it ‘d be gone completely. And yet … this one appeared, loud and clear. How? That’s the secret.
Stephanie Wissel, associate teacher of physics, astronomy, and astrophysics who dealt with the ANITA group looking for signals from evasive particles called neutrinos, stated, “It’s a fascinating issue due to the fact that we still do not in fact have a description for what those abnormalities are, however what we do understand is that they’re more than likely not representing neutrinos.”
To find out what ANITA had actually truly heard, researchers didn’t simply take the information at stated value. They compared it with computer system designs and ran numerous simulations of recognized area particles, such as routine cosmic rays and weird bursts from below called “upward air showers.” That assisted them eliminate the typical suspects.
Antarctica had rain forests 90 million years ago
They didn’t stop there. When researchers consulted other detectors, such as IceCube and the Pierre Auger Observatory, they showed up empty– none had actually gotten anything that might describe ANITA’s weird radio signal.
That was a huge warning. It implied this wasn’t a familiar visitor like a neutrino slipping through undetected. Researchers explained the signal as ‘anomalous’.
Wissel stated, “The signals do not fit within the basic photo of particle physics, and while a number of theories recommend that it might be a tip of dark matter, the absence of follow-up observations with IceCube and Auger truly narrow the possibilities.”
Wissel thinks there may be some uncommon result in how radio waves take a trip near the ice and the horizon– something we do not completely comprehend. Researchers have actually checked a lot of theories, however none have actually discussed it up until now. That’s why this unusual signal stays among science’s remaining secrets.
Journal Reference
- A. Abdul Halim, P. Abreu et al. Look for the Anomalous Events Detected by ANITA Using the Pierre Auger Observatory. Physical Review LettersDOI: 10.1103/ PhysRevLett.134.121003
