China unveils world’s most powerful neutrino detector to unlock cosmic secrets

China has recently launched the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (Juno), the world largest and strongest neutrino detector, in southern Guangdong province to unlock secrets of ghost particles.

The massive facility has begun collecting data, aiming to explore the elusive nature of ghost particles dubbed as neutrinos. These enigmatic particles possess no electrical charge with very little mass while moving at near-light speed.

According to the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Juno successfully filled its massive 35 meter (115ft) diameter acrylic sphere detector with 20,000 tonnes of liquid scintillator.

The powerful detector is located at the centre of a 44 meter deep water pool and 700 meters below ground.

By using the detector, the Chinese researchers can measure the mass of different types of neutrinos produced by two nuclear power plants in Taishan and Yangjiang, that are 53km away.

Particle physicist Wang Yifang, who is Juno’s spokesman, called the successful completion of the filling of the Juno detector and starting of data-collecting “a major milestone”.

The international project was proposed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2008.

Juno is also an international scientific collaboration supervised by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of High Energy Physics, uniting 700 researchers from 74 institutions across 17 countries and regions.