Image: KAMLAND detector, on Japan (1997)

Displaying image 99 of 200 images in Physics.

Not yet rated


KAMLAND

An international team of physicists completed construction on the KAMLAND detector—short for Kamioka Liquid-scintillator Anti-Neutrino Detector—in 1997 on the Japanese island of Honshu. KAMLAND detects antineutrinos, the antimatter opposites of neutrinos, which signal the latter's presence. The detector uses a telescope made of 1,000 tons of mineral oil and benzene in a stainless steel tank two thirds of a mile below the Earth's surface to measure antineutrinos issuing from nuclear power reactors and natural nuclear reactions. In July 2005, KAMLAND scientists measured the Earth's total radioactivity for the first time. Their findings will allow them to better understand what keeps the planet warm, the volcanoes active, the continents drifting, the magnetic field churning—all things that enable life. Until this discovery, geologists relied on the reverberations from earthquakes to estimate the planet's radioactivity.

Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/neutrino/dete-02.html

Views: 1,740
Added: 16 years ago.
Topic: Particle Physics

Share:

Comments

There are no comments. Be the first to post one.
  Post comment as a guest user.
Click to login or register:
Your name:
Your email:
(will not appear)
Your comment:
(max. 1000 characters)
Are you human? (Sorry)