⚡️ China deploys neutrino detectors, electricity transported through air, catching ultra-light dark matter

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Chinese scientists have deployed prototype detectors in the South China Sea to explore building a large underwater observatory to detect neutrinos, tiny particles from space.

Last month, equipment including sensitive detector units and an LED light source for calibration was deployed at a depth of 1,600 meters (5,250 feet) using the submersible Shenhai Yongshi, or Deep-Sea Warrior, according to the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) in Beijing. Let's take a closer look at this Must Read.

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☢️ China deploys prototype detectors to locate neutrinos in South China Sea

The detectors, now linked to China’s national underwater scientific observation network for power and data transmission, are positioned in the darkness to detect faint flashes of light caused by passing neutrinos, according to the institute’s statement on Wednesday via WeChat, the South China Morning Post reported.

All of this is part of a bid to construct the High-energy Underwater Neutrino Telescope (HUNT), which aims to become the world’s largest underwater neutrino observatory. The project will feature over 55,000 detectors suspended along thousands of strings, covering 30 cubic kilometers (7.2 cubic miles) of ocean.

The stable operation of the prototype detectors is a meaningful milestone in the preliminary research for the HUNT project, according to the institute. When completed, the project is expected to place China among the leaders in neutrino astronomy, SCMP adds.

⚡️ Electricity transported through air: Ultrasonic waves guide sparks in new experiment

For the first time, scientists have found that electric sparks can be guided using ultrasonic waves. A recent study by researchers from Spain, Finland, and Canada uncovered the way in which ultrasonic waves transport electricity through air.

Researchers revealed that this guidance occurs because the sparks heat up the air, which expands and lowers its density.

The hot air is then guided by ultrasonic waves into regions where the sound intensity is higher, and the next sparks follow these regions of lighter air because of its lower breakdown voltage, according to researchers.

🕦 Atomic clocks and lasers can help us catch ultra-light dark matter, suggests study

A team of international researchers has developed a new technique that promises to detect dark matter using atomic clocks and a network of optical-cavity lasers.

The latest study by the researchers suggests that atomic clocks and lasers can work like sensors, detecting tiny changes in fundamental constants—like the electron mass.

Such changes are believed to be caused by an oscillating dark matter field. “Dark matter in this case acts like a wave, because its mass is very very low,” said Ashlee Caddell, one of the study authors and a PhD student at the University of Queensland (UQ).

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