Engineers and technicians in the UK have started production of key piece of equipment for a major international science experiment.
The UK government has invested $89 million (£65 million) in the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, a particle physics experiment being built by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermilab at locations in both Illinois and South Dakota. DUNE will study elusive particles called neutrinos in a bid to advance our understanding of the origin and structure of the universe.
DUNE will measure the so-called oscillations of the neutrinos as they travel at nearly the speed of light. An upgraded particle accelerator at Fermilab (outside Chicago) will accelerate subatomic particles and smash them into a target, forming a beam of neutrinos that will be fired 800 miles through the Earth’s crust to a specialized detector being built deep underground in Lead, South Dakota.