Scientists Spot Subatomic Particles Underground: Geoneutrinos May Help Drive Earth's Internal Heat

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - 09:30 in Astronomy & Space

Geoneutrino Detector Princeton University scientists and others in the Borexino Collaboration have detected geoneutrinos at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics. The discovery could explain how reactions taking place in the planet's deep interior affect events on the surface. Princeton University An international team working below an Italian mountain has detected subatomic particles hanging out beneath the Earth's surface, where they may very well be affecting things like earthquakes and volcanoes. Geoneutrinos -- which are anti-neutrinos -- result from the radioactive decay of uranium, thorium and potassium in the Earth's crust and mantle. Like their regular-matter counterparts, geoneutrinos are chargeless and tiny, passing through matter almost undisturbed. Regular neutrinos are emitted by the sun and cosmic rays. The Borexino experiment at Italy's Gran Sasso National Laboratory was actually designed to watch for regular neutrinos, but scientists at Princeton University, part of an 88-member team, realized it...

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