From gold rush to cosmic questions: a South Dakota mine and the search for the secrets of the universe
A mile beneath the Black Hills, scientists are building giant detectors to analyse neutrino particles – and possibly find the answer to existence For more than a century, the mining town of Lead, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, attracted workers with a taste for gold.
- Engineers will begin assembling four giant detectors inside caverns blasted from rock a mile underground.
Now, a flagship experiment being built in the old mine is drawing scientists in search of more intriguing riches: answers to the deepest mysteries of the universe.
Construction of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (Dune) in the former Homestake mine is due to start on Monday.
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