Researchers seek ghost-like particles deep in Lake Superior

DULUTH — Five three-story-tall metal towers sat along the port Tuesday, Nov. 10, as crew members strung exercise-ball-sized photosensors from them like ornaments on a Christmas tree. 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 3 miles offshore of Two Harbors. 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. If a sensor detects one of those neutrinos, it would mark the first time artificial neutrinos are detected in water. 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.

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