{"id":962779,"date":"2026-11-13T08:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T08:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/962779\/"},"modified":"2026-11-13T08:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T08:22:09","slug":"researchers-seek-ghost-like-particles-deep-in-lake-superior-duluth-news-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/962779\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers seek ghost-like particles deep in Lake Superior – Duluth News Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

DULUTH \u2014 Five three-story-tall metal towers sat along the port Tuesday as crew members strung exercise-ball-sized photosensors from them like ornaments on a Christmas tree.<\/p>\n

This week, crews are expected to begin lowering the frames of sensors to the floor of Lake Superior, nearly 700 feet below the surface and just over three miles offshore of Two Harbors.<\/p>\n

Researchers hope they’ll detect ghost-like particles called neutrinos that are shot from an accelerator near Chicago every 1.2 seconds. With very little mass, neutrinos pass through the Earth at nearly the speed of light, as if nothing were in their way.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Martin Schoonen, interim deputy director for science & technology at Brookhaven National Laboratory, speaks about the Experimental Neutrino Detector project in front of some of the photosensors in Duluth on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Jed Carlson \/ Duluth Media Group<\/p>\n

If a sensor detects one of those neutrinos, it would mark the first time artificial neutrinos are detected in water.<\/p>\n

Scientists said experiments like this are key to understanding the universe’s most common, yet difficult to detect, particle. For every electron or proton out there, there are a billion neutrinos.<\/p>\n

A neutrino’s mass is maybe just a millionth of an electron, and they rarely interact with other particles. But when they pass through water and strike another atom, a faint blue light is emitted. Researchers are hoping the photosensors will detect that light.<\/p>\n

\"Fermilab.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Gary Meader \/ Duluth Media Group file image<\/p>\n

“Neutrinos are one of the fundamental particles of the universe,” said Alec Habig, a professor in the University of Minnesota Duluth\u2019s department of physics and astronomy and a principal investigator on the project. “But they’re the ones we know the least about because they’re neutral and go through everything \u2014 including whatever you build to study them.”<\/p>\n

In addition to advancing science, the project could become the basis for defense applications.<\/p>\n

Nuclear reactors emit neutrinos, and scientists have said <\/p>\n

this work could be applied to detecting a weapons program<\/a><\/p>\n

or \u2014 related to underwater detection \u2014 <\/p>\n

monitoring nuclear submarines.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Neil Armstrong Capt. Mike Singleton talks about maneuvering the research vessel during a tour of the ship in Duluth.<\/p>\n

Jed Carlson \/ Duluth Media Group<\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is sponsoring this project, but when asked about this project’s defense applications and its potential for nuclear submarine detection, John Bruzzese, a DARPA project manager, told reporters Tuesday that “we don’t have a specific application in mind.”<\/p>\n

“It’s important for us that we remain agnostic to what the possibilities are,” Bruzzese said. “We don’t want to get into tunnel vision of looking at one specific application. This is really about imagining the world of possibilities and then preparing for each one of them.”<\/p>\n

In addition to UMD, researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy, Brookhaven National Laboratory and several universities are working on the project.<\/p>\n

Northland’s last shot at neutrinos<\/p>\n

Since 2005, the Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Lab, or Fermilab, near Chicago, has aimed its particle beam at Northeastern Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Specifically, the beam is pointed at the Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park, some 450 miles away, where a detector nearly half a mile underground intercepted particles until 2016. By then, a newer facility was built along the Ash River just outside Voyageurs National Park to detect neutrinos.<\/p>\n

But come February, the beam will instead aim at a new laboratory under construction deep below South Dakota.<\/p>\n

“This is our last chance,” Habig said. “The beam is turned off in February, so we’re trying to see what we can do.”<\/p>\n

To improve their chances, they will also place a sensor in Lake Vermilion, but unlike the Lake Superior photodetectors, that sensor will use large metal cylinders lined with plastic that is sensitive to radiation and emits light when contacted by a neutrino.<\/p>\n

\"Men<\/p>\n

Alec Habig, physics professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth, speaks about the Experimental Neutrino Detector project.<\/p>\n

Jed Carlson \/ Duluth Media Group<\/p>\n

Habig has tried to detect neutrinos from the beam in water before, placing sensors in an Iron Range mine pit several years ago, but “the engineering challenges of building a big thing underwater defeated us in that case.”<\/p>\n

But the Lake Superior sensors, which came from an array in the Mediterranean, have successfully picked up naturally occurring neutrinos.<\/p>\n

To precisely place the five towers of sensors on the bed of Lake Superior, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute’s research vessel, the Neil Armstrong, arrived earlier in Duluth this week to help with installation. It’s the first time the 238-foot ship has traversed the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes.<\/p>\n

It will begin setting the towers off shore of Two Harbors on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\"Research<\/p>\n

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution\u2019s research vessel, Neil Armstrong, is moored at Berth 10 of the Clure Terminal Expansion Pier in Duluth on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

Jed Carlson \/ Duluth Media Group<\/p>\n

From there, the ship will lay more than three miles of fiber optic cable along the lakebed, connecting the sensors to Two Harbors. The cable will enter the city’s water intake facility via an unused pipe, and data will be processed in the facility.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Robert Munier, vice president for marine facilities and operations at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, talks in the science lab on board the WHOI research vessel Neil Armstrong during a tour of the ship in Duluth.<\/p>\n

Jed Carlson \/ Duluth Media Group<\/p>\n

The Neil Armstrong will return to ocean research after placing the towers, and won’t be needed to recover the structures.<\/p>\n

Rob Munier, vice president of marine facilities and operations at Woods Hole, said it was fitting to have the vessel named after the first astronaut to step on the moon’s surface play a role in answering fundamental science questions.<\/p>\n

\"Congressional<\/p>\n

Neil Armstrong\u2019s actual Congressional Gold Medal is on display in the WHOI research vessel Neil Armstrong.<\/p>\n

Jed Carlson \/ Duluth Media Group<\/p>\n

Sea and space exploration have similarities, he said.<\/p>\n

“They\u2019re both hard to get to; they\u2019re both extreme environments. It takes a lot of resources and skills to get there, specialized tools and a little bit of courage,\u201d Munier said. \u201cAnd once there, the goals are to explore, discover and learn. For both, one important lesson that we learned is that as soon as we learn something, we realize how little we know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Astronaut<\/p>\n

An astronaut figure is zip-tied to a pole on board the Neil Armstrong research vessel.<\/p>\n

Jed Carlson \/ Duluth Media Group<\/p>\n

Neutrinos’ moment to shine<\/p>\n

Interest in neutrinos is high.<\/p>\n

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics <\/p>\n

was awarded to Francis Halzen,<\/a><\/p>\n

a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor, \u201cfor decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Terry Benson, director of the Physical Science Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, helped drill and place sensors in the ice at the IceCube in Antarctica.<\/p>\n

Benson, an engineer who grew up in West Duluth and graduated from Denfeld in 1999, said it’s been an exciting moment for the neutrino research community \u2014 both in Madison and among international collaborators.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Benson was back in his hometown rigging up photosensors.<\/p>\n

“It’s truly a full-circle moment,” Benson said.<\/p>\n

\"Men<\/p>\n

Neil Armstrong Capt. Kent Sheasley, left, talks about moving equipment on board the research vessel as Robert Munier, vice president for marine facilities and operations at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, listens during a tour of the ship.<\/p>\n

Jed Carlson \/ Duluth Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DULUTH \u2014 Five three-story-tall metal towers sat along the port Tuesday as crew members strung exercise-ball-sized photosensors from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":962780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[530518,530519,64,63,138050,530520,530521,87860,530522,530523,530524,131238,292,128],"class_list":["post-962779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-physics","tag-alec-habig","tag-ash-river","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-darpa","tag-department-of-defense-neutrino","tag-fermi-lab-in-chicago","tag-fermilab","tag-francis-halzen-nobel-prize","tag-john-bruzzese","tag-neil-armstrong-research-vessel","tag-nobel-prize-in-physics","tag-physics","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=962779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/962780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=962779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=962779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=962779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}