They Built a Massive Machine at the Bottom of the Sea—To Catch Ghost Particles From the Hidden Universe
By Caroline Delbert
Published on March 28, 2026.
Physicist Joao A. Coelho from the French Astroparticle and Cosmology Laboratory (ARCA) has presented a project at the Neutrino 2024 conference that may help detect featherlight neutrino particles from under the ocean. The project involves a massive installation of spherical artificial eyeballs on the seafloor off the coast of Sicily to detect these elusive particles. These sensors are located at around 3,500 meters (around 11,500 feet) deep in the Mediterranean Sea, where the ARCA portion of the KM3NeT research rig experiences about 348 atmospheres of pressure compared to the one atmosphere of pressure we experience at sea level. They separate three distinct layers of particle noise, including background noise from radioactive isotope potassium 40, cosmic rays from outer space, and neutrinos coming from Earth’s atmosphere. The fourth layer of noise is used to amplify energetic neutrines from further away from further distance. The most energetic neutroster detected so far could indicate a source from an explosion in the cosmos.
Read Original Article