China is undertaking a massive scientific endeavor by constructing the world’s largest underwater ‘ghost particle’ detector known as TRIDENT or the Tropical Deep-sea Neutrino Telescope. Scheduled for completion in 2030, TRIDENT aims to capture elusive neutrinos as they become briefly detectable in the deep ocean depths. Neutrinos, often referred to as ‘ghost particles’, are subatomic particles with minimal interaction capability, making them extremely challenging to detect. However, they can provide valuable information about ancient cosmic events. TRIDENT will be located 11,500 feet below the ocean’s surface and will utilize the Earth itself as a shield to detect neutrinos from the opposite side of the planet. It will consist of more than 24,000 optical sensors distributed across 1,211 strings, each 2,300 feet in length. These sensors will be arranged in a Penrose tiling pattern, spanning a diameter of 2.5 miles. The detector will scan an impressive 1.7 cubic miles, making it significantly more sensitive than the current largest neutrino detector, IceCube located in Antarctica. IceCube has a monitoring area of only 0.24 cubic miles. TRIDENT is expected to make significant discoveries in the field of neutrino research. A pilot project for TRIDENT is scheduled to commence in 2026, with the full detector coming online in 2030.
China to Build World’s Largest Underwater ‘Ghost Particle’ Detector
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