A group of scientists tasked with advising the federal government’s investments in particle physics research is recommending that the United States fund a planned expansion of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, an international scientific collaboration operated by the University of Wisconsin–Madison at the South Pole.
The astrophysical neutrinos coming from a Milky Way neighbor hold promise for future astronomical discoveries.
Astronomers have long sought the launch sites for some of the highest energy protons in our galaxy. Now, a study using 12 years of data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope confirms that a remnant of a supernova, or star explosion, is just such a place, solving a decade-long cosmic mystery.
To celebrate the exploratory and aesthetic value of the photos, renderings, videos, images, art and more made in the process of fulfilling curiosity and advancing science, the 12th annual Cool Science Image Contest is now soliciting the best visuals from members of the UW–Madison community.
UW’s massive neutrino observatory at the South Pole, comprising over 5,000 light sensors deployed deep in the ice, is featured in “Neutrino: Hunting the Ghost Particle,” online now, and NOVA’s “Particles Unknown,” premiering Oct. 6.
The Antarctic observatory’s founders believed that studying cosmic neutrinos would reveal hidden parts of the universe. Over the course of the next decade, they would be proven right.
Actually, don’t honk — it would be rude — but enjoy the UW–Madison IceCube Neutrino Observatory display at Madison’s Holiday Fantasy in Lights at Olin Park. The lights at the free, drive-through attraction are on every night from 4:30 to 10 p.m. through Jan. 3.
The Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center is providing some of its available computing resources to help researchers understand how the virus compromises human immune systems and reproduces.
With the help of an icebound detector situated a mile beneath the South Pole, an international team of scientists has found the first evidence of a source of high-energy cosmic neutrinos, a ghostly subatomic particle that can travel in a straight line for billions of light years, passing unhindered through galaxies, stars and anything else …