India’s race to discover the secrets of ‘Neutrino’
By P B Jayasankar / ENS - IDUKKI
19th September 2012 08:43 AM
Several countries, including India, are in the race to study the properties of the elusive particle ‘Neutrino’ that holds the key to fundamental questions on the origin of the universe and the energy production in stars, according to T R Govindarajan, a Chennai-based physicist.
He was reacting to the controversies set off by Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan’s statement that the Kerala Government was in the dark about the underground laboratory that will be set up in a vast area under Theni and Idukki districts.
VS has also claimed that the project was part of a secret agreement between India and the US government and that it posed a grave danger to the people and ecology.
There are three types of Neutrinos but physicists have little knowledge about the properties of the particles, Govindarajan of the Chennai Mathematical Institute told ‘Express’.
The proposed India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project which will include 15 institutions around the world and the US-based NuMi OFF-Axis Neutrino Appearance experiment (NOvA) will study the properties of Neutrinos such as their mass.
It would take about four years to complete the work to set up the lab inside the one-km-long, 20-metres-wide tunnel inside the rocky Bodi West hills near Theni. The real experiment would start only after that and it would take at least a quarter century to get any positive result, he said.
About 20 scientists would have to work in the lab to collect the data. The area is ideal for the experiment as it is closer to the equator, he said. Neutrinos can be used for tomography of the earth and human body.
They can tell us more about the dark energy and dark matter. Neutrinos are produced in the sun and other stars and they travel in straight lines in the speed of light. They come in different energy levels, starting with a few electron volts to trillions of eV.
The experiment will not cause any radiation to the people. The test is normally done in a protective place like inside a mountain or under the sea. The project which will have the world’s most massive magnet is estimated to cost `1, 300 crore and has been cleared by the Ministry of Environment in the reserved forest.
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Comments(2)
What does T R Govindarajan hope to achieve by unlocking the secrets of origin of the universe or the energy production in stars which other more eminent physicists have not tried and failed? Is he hoping to duplicate the stars system of energy production here on earth? In any case does India have the physicists and the govt the money to lavish on such idle scientific speculations? In practical terms, the so called experimental tunnel has been designed to cut through Kerala's territorial limits which is an invasion unless such lofty protestation of scientific endeavour is a subterfuge to steal water from the Idukki water table?
Posted by Curious onlooker at 09/19/2012 17:14 Reply to this Report abuse
There is no official version of the proposed experiment and the secrecy of these things showed that some thing is suspicious.There was no official protocol or any statutory body to control these tests.There was no official to answer the queries made by people.Who is the project chief of these test,could he clarify the worries of these.Is there is any concensus among various scientist about this project.Would they cover the people /properties in the case of fatalies or radiation leakage with insurane or would the Govt of india take care of these people.What would be long outcome for these environmental effects.Would any body there to explain.
Posted by JA at 09/19/2012 19:06 Reply to this Report abuse