Shared by a friend of mine who worked on this project. An inside look at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory 2km underground in Canada. It's worth the 6 minutes (at least the geek in me emphatically says so!)!
inside snolab
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Uploaded by sonofrebus on Nov 3, 2011
2km under canada lies the worlds largest neutrino detector, for the first time cameras film inside this bad boy. prepared to be impressed
Introduction to the Science of SNOLAB
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Uploaded by TheSNOLAB on Dec 16, 2010
SNOLAB is an underground science laboratory specializing in neutrino and dark matter physics. Situated two km below the surface in the Vale Inco Creighton Mine located near Sudbury Ontario Canada, SNOLAB is an expansion of the existing facilities constructed for the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) solar neutrino experiment. SNOLAB follows on the important achievements in neutrino physics achieved by SNO and other underground physics measurements. The primary scientific emphasis at SNOLAB will be on astroparticle physics with the principal topics being:
Low Energy Solar Neutrinos;
Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay;
Cosmic Dark Mater Searches and
Supernova Neutrino Searches.
These are fields where the next generation of experiments require great depths to reduce cosmogenic backgrounds to acceptable levels. They also require extreme levels of cleanliness to reduce environmental radiological backgrounds to the levels necessary for these very sensitive measurements. SNOLAB achieves these goals by being located 2 km underground and by having the entire laboratory constructed as a single large clean room.
While particle astrophysics is the principle focus for SNOLAB, there is a growing interest in other scientific fields to exploit deep underground laboratories and their associated infrastructure. In particular, there has been interest expressed in the fields of Seismology and Geophysics interested in precision, long term measurements at depth and in the field of Biology where there is a growing interest in deep under ground life.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
is it really more economical to study physics underground? maybe 2km is the cutoff cost depth limit and if the particle is neutral than why not above ground? also are we not only looking into the past of our solar system in place of where we are headed? nonetheless this is fascinating and only proves how far we have yet go.
znovkovic, it's not a question of economics, the experiment must be conducted underground in order to filter out all the background noise of other particle radiation - otherwise they'd never see the neutrinos.
Neutrinos Uncovered
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Uploaded by gravywolf on Jun 2, 2008
Frank and Todd go two miles underground to investigate neutrinos- a super particle studied in Sudbury's SNOLAB.
A Day at SNOLAB
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Uploaded by TheSNOLAB on Dec 16, 2010
Travel underground with the SNOLAB staff and scientists to experience a typical day of going to work in an underground laboratory!
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
Yes, of course, but practicality and experimental design needs would be a more logical reason: I haven't checked into it in detail, but I'd have to guess that they went as deep as they needed to in order to visualize the neutrinos and filter out the background ambient radiation, and no further, as digging deeper would only cost more money and time that wasn't necessary to spend (ie, why go 10km when 2 is plenty to see the neutrinos?). It's possible geography could've had something to do with it too - I do remember when they were proposing this project and searching for suitable sites, that there were only a few that qualified, and I don't remember why.
What did you think of the facility? I wonder how they got the ten tons of heavy water out of there, and how long it would take to pump it back in!
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
it is fascinating and i also was wondering about the heavy water used to capture the neutrinos? apart from the basic search on the isotope, i would assume it is somehow tied into the world reactors? pumping would not be a big issue considering the high volume pumps available commercially and certainly specialized pumps. we know the density of water, not sure about heavy water, and wonder if the water is constantly circulated avoiding the draining and filling of the bath tub.
Well, I learned something new today! Canada is the source for heavy water for the world, and they don't create it, they merely extract it from a natural source - cool!
Heavy water is chemically the same as regular (light) water, but with the two hydrogen atoms (as in H2O) replaced with deuterium atoms (hence the symbol D2O). Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen; it has one extra neutron. Thus the deutrium atom consists of one proton and one neutron in the atomic nucleus and one orbiting electron. It is the extra neutron that makes heavy water "heavy", about 10% heavier in fact.
The heavy water for the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) is on loan from Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), and has a value of over $300 million (Cnd). Owing to the extreme cleanliness requirements in SNO, the heavy water will come directly from the Bruce plant.
Isotopic effect of heavy water
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Uploaded by ChemToddler on Oct 27, 2008
Deuterium as heavier isotope than hydrogen changes physical, as well as chemical properties of water.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
