Science News

Detecting neutrinos is no easy feat. Because they rarely interact with matter, one has to cast a wide net and shield the detector from the much louder, and more interactive particles hitting the Earth at all times. Experimental physicist Francis Halzen’s solution was simple—or so he makes it sound in this clip from The Elusive Neutrino and the Nature of the Cosmos. In 1987, Halzen began developing the Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detection Array, or AMANDA, a neutrino telescope buried more than a mile deep at the South Pole. After more than 20 years of construction, AMANDA now stands as the largest neutrino detectors in the world.

Scientists prepare two new underwater sensor arrays to hunt for neutrinos that originated in the distant universe.