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Bizarre Particles Keep Flying Out of Antarctica's Ice, and They Might Shatter Modern Physics (livescience.com)

There's something mysterious coming up from the frozen ground in Antarctica, and it could break physics as we know it. From a report: Physicists don't know what it is exactly. But they do know it's some sort of cosmic ray -- a high-energy particle that's blasted its way through space, into the Earth, and back out again. But the particles physicists know about -- the collection of particles that make up what scientists call the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics -- shouldn't be able to do that.

Sure, there are low-energy neutrinos that can pierce through miles upon miles of rock unaffected. But high-energy neutrinos, as well as other high-energy particles, have "large cross-sections." That means that they'll almost always crash into something soon after zipping into the Earth and never make it out the other side. And yet, since March 2016, researchers have been puzzling over two events in Antarctica where cosmic rays did burst out from the Earth, and were detected by NASA's Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) -- a balloon-borne antenna drifting over the southern continent.

ANITA is designed to hunt cosmic rays from outer space, so the high-energy neutrino community was buzzing with excitement when the instrument detected particles that seemed to be blasting up from Earth instead of zooming down from space. Because cosmic rays shouldn't do that, scientists began to wonder whether these mysterious beams are made of particles never seen before. Since then, physicists have proposed all sorts of explanations for these "upward going" cosmic rays, from sterile neutrinos (neutrinos that rarely ever bang into matter) to "atypical dark matter distributions inside the Earth," referencing the mysterious form of matter that doesn't interact with light.

66 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Science Journalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "Miles and miles" as stated != the diameter of the Earth, which is thousands and thousands of miles. You misread a vague sentence, it's going to happen in physics reporting to a lay audience.
       

  2. I know...I Know! by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

    The Lizard People are coming to greet us! All hail the Great Lizard.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  3. Re:Science Journalism by frith01 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Low-energy neutrinos = pass through

    High-energy neutrinos = bounce off everything, BUT we are seeing them coming from our planet. So if they are not bouncing off things, then are they being generated? or what is the mechanism that makes them appear to be coming from the planet.?

    Direction of travel is determined similar to following a traveller who has a strobe light attached. When you identify the spot you see the light initially, then the same light shows up awhile later at another spot, you can determine the back-azimuth to the originating dot. (collector is large enough to see 2 or more interactions within the collection material)

  4. So.. by syn3rg · · Score: 4, Funny

    they figured out the 7th chevron...

    --
    The contents of this message have been doubly encrypted by ROT13
    1. Re:So.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      I think they finally completed the massive calculations they needed to open the Antarctica gate. The breathtakingly large computations supplied by their scheme... bitcoin. Everyone knows this....

    2. Re:So.. by sg_oneill · · Score: 1

      I think they finally completed the massive calculations they needed to open the Antarctica gate. The breathtakingly large computations supplied by their scheme... bitcoin. Everyone knows this....

      So we can update the "what is bitcoin" Analogy to;-

        "Imagine if leaving your car idling 24/7 solved sudokus that you could trade for heroin, and also open up some sort of hell gate to ancient eskimo pharos"

      --
      Excuse the Unicode crap in my posts. That's an apostrophe, and slashdot is busted.
  5. Re:Science Journalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Okay, if it's not a contradiction, then it's plain wrong. Neutrinos go through the diameter of the Earth all the time.

  6. I wonder if these Things can mutate? by filesiteguy · · Score: 1

    I mean, small particles coming out of the Antartic ice. Maybe they're alien and will slowly take on human shapes to terrorize any researchers there.

    1. Re:I wonder if these Things can mutate? by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      Then we might need someone to fight them. Perhaps some sort of predator.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    2. Re:I wonder if these Things can mutate? by pslytely+psycho · · Score: 1

      Nah, they've detected the Stargate!!

      --
      Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
  7. So, the options are... by Narcocide · · Score: 2

    1) Originating from within the Earth's crust.
    2) Bouncing off something in the Earth's crust.
    3) Leaking through the Earth from an undetected particle beam impact on the other side, originating deep in space.

    Who wants to bet on one?

    1. Re:So, the options are... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      1) Originating from within the Earth's crust. 2) Bouncing off something in the Earth's crust. 3) Leaking through the Earth from an undetected particle beam impact on the other side, originating deep in space.

      Who wants to bet on one?

      A very good chance of just that. If every claim of something something shatter modern physics actually did shatter modern physics, modern physics would be irrecoverably shattered long ago.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    2. Re:So, the options are... by Zorpheus · · Score: 1

      Maybe 2), I don't know. I think 3) is what the summary says can't happen, and 1) would be an unknown process which might be even more revoutionary than an unknown particle.

    3. Re:So, the options are... by Narcocide · · Score: 1

      Yea, we all know that the real story here is the horrifying lack of diligence surrounding monitoring of cosmic ray impacts on our planet and atmosphere, but I really like the romantic notion of some sort of exotic matter having laid unnoticed for centuries under the ice pack until one day it melted a bit too much.

    4. Re:So, the options are... by AnotherBlackHat · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think I'll bet on 4) They made a mistake.
      And however unlikely it might be, there's also 5) They're lying.

    5. Re:So, the options are... by Brett+Buck · · Score: 1

      No bets, this is so strange and unexpected that option 4 - some sort of unexpected failure in the sensors or the data processing/interpretation - seems to be the most likely result.

    6. Re:So, the options are... by mnemotronic · · Score: 1

      7. Previously unobserved 2-dimensional high-energy particle. Can only be detected if observed precisely edge-on, or maybe face-on.

      --
      The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
    7. Re:So, the options are... by Narcocide · · Score: 1

      Oh, I like this one because it's from Star Trek.

    8. Re:So, the options are... by Megol · · Score: 2

      8) A glitch in the simulation.

    9. Re:So, the options are... by mnemotronic · · Score: 1

      whatwhatwhat? Crap. So much for my one original thought for this year.

      Which episode BTW?

      --
      The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
  8. I'm not saying it was aliens... by khandom08 · · Score: 5, Funny

    but it was aliens

  9. Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. by He+Who+Has+No+Name · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yog-Sothoth is the gate.
    Yog-Sothoth is the key.

    1. Re:Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. by sheramil · · Score: 1

      I really hope this doesn't lead to A Colder War...

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Colder_War

  10. Hmm.... by gerald.edward.butler · · Score: 2

    I wonder how this relates to the findings that are staring to become apparent at CERN/LHC showing unusual decays for (I believe if I recall correctly - please correct me if I am mistaken) muons into electrons (or perhaps it was the other way, I'll have to see if I can locate the reference)? I read an article recently claiming that they are approaching 5-sigma on something they originally thought was just an experimental apparatus artifact but now is strongly believed to be "New Physics"? Could these two things be related?

  11. Re:And Out Of Madonna's Butt? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    In this case, it's coming out of Montana's butt.

  12. The Thing by julian67 · · Score: 2

    Nobody of my generation is surprised by this news. Ever since we saw The Thing we've been expecting it.

      https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0...

  13. Here is an article referencing what I recalled.... by gerald.edward.butler · · Score: 3, Interesting

    https://futurism.com/measureme....

    Now, it appears I was mistaken, they are somewhere between a 2.5 and 4 sigma, but, it is still under study. Interesting? Someone qualified care to comment?

  14. They Might Shatter Modern Physics ! by EvilSS · · Score: 3, Funny

    They we shouldn't store modern physics above Antarctica! Who's bright idea was it to put it there in the first place?

    --
    I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    1. Re:They Might Shatter Modern Physics ! by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

      You'd think we'd store modern physics on a durable media. There's so many storage materials that are not prone to shattering.

    2. Re:They Might Shatter Modern Physics ! by lgw · · Score: 3, Funny

      Most materials would shatter at Antarctic temperatures. Hopefully this isn't the only modern physics, but just a backup in cold storage.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  15. Ever seen the film Volcano? by devslash0 · · Score: 1

    What if melting ice capes are not what we think they are? What if global warming is the effect rather than the cause? What if those "upward going" particles are a sign that something is happening in the mantle deep under the North Pole, causing nuclear disturbance, ejecting matter and increasing the global temperature as the result?

    I'm not saying there is anything happening there and surely some of you will doubt my sanity but is it really such an implausible theory? We only managed to probe a tiny fraction of the crust. On the other hand, we know how violent and unpredictable other planets can be.

    What if the end is actually near?

    1. Re:Ever seen the film Volcano? by jeff4747 · · Score: 4, Funny

      What if those "upward going" particles are a sign that something is happening in the mantle deep under the North Pole

      What if you knew where Antarctica was located?

  16. Re:Science Journalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    http://cds.cern.ch/record/374272/files/9812262.pdf

    The penetration of ultrahigh energy neutrinos through the Earth, with energies E greater
    than 10 TeV or so, can be strongly affected by neutrino interactions with matter. This is due
    to the increase of neutrino cross sections with energy. At these ultrahigh energies we have
    significant attenuation of the neutrino fluxes on transversing through the Earth and, indeed,
    complete absorption for energies above about 108 GeV or so, depending on the nadir angle of
    the neutrino beam. Realistic estimates of these effects are crucial for predicting the number of
    neutrinos reaching the large km3 scale detectors after penetration through the Earth. Clearly
    the magnitude of this ultrahigh energy neutrino flux has important implications for neutrino
    astronomy. For example, it is hoped that the neutrino flux coming through the Earth will point
    back to its Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) origin [1]. Clearly the magnitude of the signal, and
    the ability of the Earth to reduce the background due to atmospheric neutrinos, are crucial in
    this exciting endeavour.

  17. Bad cable by lengel · · Score: 1

    Well, I guess we know where that faulty cable that skewed the first OPERA results https://science.slashdot.org/s... ended up.

  18. My hypothesis by joetomato · · Score: 3, Funny

    The intern they hired to mount the sensor on the pole skipped the part about "This end up"

  19. Tachyons by Tomahawk · · Score: 3, Informative

    Obviously tachyons -- since they travel backwards through time they would be observed as traveling upwards.

    1. Re:Tachyons by gerald.edward.butler · · Score: 1

      Yes, we need to be on the look-out for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  20. Frozen alien ship! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Itâ(TM)s the reptilian mothership frozen in the Antarctic ice for millennia about to be freed by their engineered global warming! It is well known reptilians need the heat and their terraforming to free the ship and provide a suitable habitat is almost here!

  21. Re:Future Predictions. by Topwiz · · Score: 1

    About 75% (26 of 35) of the Senate seats up for re-election are held by Democrats. The odds are good that the Republicans pick up at least one.

  22. Re: Science Journalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I suspect they might have thought of that though, as in scientific terms this is known as FUCKING OBVIOUS

  23. Re:Science Journalism by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    Is it implausible that a part of neutrinos could have just the right energy to collide with matter after passing through Earth "almost once"? I thought the same thing held for other particles, and that by giving them the right energy, you could achieve a desired penetration depth.

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  24. To be pedantic, they are coming from that directio by raymorris · · Score: 2

    Apparently they are coming from the direction of the North Pole, through the South Pole ..

  25. Weak Interaction by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 5, Informative

    Neutrinos are leptons (like the electron) but have no charge. This means that they cannot interact via the electromagnetic force like every other matter-like particle (fermion). Instead, they can only interact via the weak interaction.

    We have known for several decades that the electromagnetic and weak interactions are really two aspects of the same electroweak force. What makes the weak force different from the electromagnetic force is that the carriers of the weak force, the W and Z bosons, have large masses ~90 times that of a proton whereas the electromagnetic force is transmitted by massles photons.

    At low energies when particles collide there is not enough energy to create "real" (on-shell) W and Z bosons and so it is extremely rare that particles will interact via the weak force at low energy. So, if this is the ONLY way you have to interact you basically hardly every interact at all. This is what happens for low energy neutrinos.

    However, at _really_ high energy - about 10,000 times or more the energy of a proton in the Large Hadron Collider - collisions of neutrinos with matter have enough energy to create real W and Z bosons. When this happens the chance of a weak interaction starts to become similar to that of an electromagnetic interaction and neutrinos can no longer pass through the Earth.

  26. Low Level Fusion in the Earths Core by Zorro · · Score: 2

    Maybe a slow and uncommon type of fusion at the Earths core.

    Add a little Helium 3 and get a Fusion event every few seconds.

    1. Re: Low Level Fusion in the Earths Core by baker_tony · · Score: 1

      If they're that energetic, they probably came from my son...

  27. Mutate? Maybe. Aliens? No by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, you might be a lot closer than you thought to a possible explanation (not the alien bit but the mutation), assuming these observations are confirmed. We already now that neutrinos oscillate between different flavours as they travel - or as you put it "mutate". However, all the known flavours interact via the weak force which, at these insanely high energies, is no longer very weak at all.

    One way around having all the high energy neutrinos interacting with the Earth is something called a sterile neutrino. This is a hypothetical new "flavour" of neutrino which does not interact at all. Some experiments have claimed to observe evidence for them but I think it is fair to say that many of us particle physicists remain rather unconvinced by the data so far.

    However, if these sterile neutrinos do exist then they may allow neutrinos to survive passage through the Earth even at realy high energies. Essentialy a high energy neutrino "mutates" into a sterile neutrino, flies through the Earth and then mutates back into a known-flavour of neutrino, interacts in the ice and is picked up by ANITA.

    There are a lot of ifs involved at this stage. The first thing is that we need to confirm (or not) ANITA's observation and interestingly (at least for those of us who work on it!) the IceCube experiment is probably in one of the best positions to do this. If confirmed then things will get a lot more interesting but while you are waiting for that expect lots of crazy ideas (like yours but with equations) from theorists trying to explain it!

    1. Re:Mutate? Maybe. Aliens? No by spaceman375 · · Score: 1

      Since the electrons that make aurora bounce or reflect (particle or wave, you choose) as they ride down Earth's magnetic lines and go back up, perhaps the high energy neutrinos also bounce from a direct hit or "reflect" under the right conditions. One coming in from the side might undergo a glancing blow and be re-directed upwards. I'd kind of expect a bit of anomalous leakage when you are talking billions of particles.

      --
      On the one hand you take life too seriously, and on the other, you do not take playful existence seriously enough. Seth
    2. Re:Mutate? Maybe. Aliens? No by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1

      No, for two reasons. First the electrons trapped by the Earth's magnetic field have an electric charge so they interact with EM fields. Neutrinos have no charge and hence are completely oblivious to any EM field. Secondly, though, the energy of neutrino they detected, 0.6EeV is ~100,000 times higher in energy than a proton in the LHC. At these energies even if we had an electron the Earth's magnetic field would be far, far too weak to reflect it.

    3. Re:Mutate? Maybe. Aliens? No by spaceman375 · · Score: 1

      I was implying that the electroweak force may have a similar mechanism to the electromagnetic force, not that neutrinos would interact electromagnetically. Once the energies are high enough, if they interact (weak force) at all, there may be a set of conditions that result in the neutrino "bouncing" back the way it came.

      --
      On the one hand you take life too seriously, and on the other, you do not take playful existence seriously enough. Seth
    4. Re:Mutate? Maybe. Aliens? No by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1

      I was implying that the electroweak force may have a similar mechanism to the electromagnetic force, not that neutrinos would interact electromagnetically.

      What you asked was whether neutrinos would ever bounce up and down the field lines like electrons. This requires an EM interaction since the field lines you talk about are from a magnetic field. This is not an interaction between matter and neutrinos which can proceed by any type of interaction that both atoms and neutrinos feel but an interaction between a particle and a field where the interaction type has to be the one producing the field.

      Hence as I said, it is not possible for neutrinos to bounce up and down the lines of the Earth's magnetic field: they do not have any direct interaction with the field and at any energy where an indirect (second order) interaction might be even vaguely likely (it would be even weaker than a normal weak interaction!) the energy of the neutrino would be so high that the amount of deflection would be tiny due to the weakness of the field and certainly no where near enough to reflect it.

    5. Re:Mutate? Maybe. Aliens? No by spaceman375 · · Score: 1

      I am replying mostly because of your strident tone when attempting to lecture me. Once again you missed what I said in your haste to refute. it. I never said the neutrinos would interact with magnetic lines, my second comment even specifically says so. Do try to keep up. As for deflection, how about a direct hit on a nucleus, or even perhaps a quark within a nucleus. Rebound can be a bitch.

      --
      On the one hand you take life too seriously, and on the other, you do not take playful existence seriously enough. Seth
    6. Re:Mutate? Maybe. Aliens? No by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1

      I never said the neutrinos would interact with magnetic lines...

      Ummm, yes you did and I quote:

      Since the electrons that make aurora bounce or reflect (particle or wave, you choose) as they ride down Earth's magnetic lines and go back up, perhaps the high energy neutrinos also bounce from a direct hit or "reflect" under the right conditions.

      You give the example of electrons reflecting and riding on field lines and then ask if neutrinos can do the same thing under the right circumstances. Hence you asked if neutrinos can also reflect along magnetic field lines. You cannot ride along the field lines without an EM interaction to tie you too them. You might not have intended to ask that but that is, indeed, exactly what you asked. Do try to keep up with the basics of the English, or indeed any other, language where sentences are related to each other.

      However, the alternative explanation you are saying that you meant to ask is even more bizarre. You now seem to want to know if neutrinos can just reflect without any interaction with a field in which case the answer is very obviously no because of an extremely fundamental law: conservation of momentum.

    7. Re:Mutate? Maybe. Aliens? No by spaceman375 · · Score: 1

      In all instances above I am referring to the electroweak interactions.
      The analogy you keep tripping over is simple: Given the example of electrons "reflecting" when interacting with an electromagnetic field, I postulate a similar mechanism may redirect a neutrino when it interacts with an electroweak force. Stop trying for the strawman and claiming I'm trying to say neutrinos interact electromagnetically.

      --
      On the one hand you take life too seriously, and on the other, you do not take playful existence seriously enough. Seth
  28. Rocket Man II by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Mars: "Psst, Earthie, you realize you have funny particles spewing out of your ice hole? See a doctor, 'kay?"

  29. Re:Here is an article referencing what I recalled. by Kjella · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There's only one law of quantum mechanics: Whenever you think you've wrapped your head around a concept, it gets weirder.

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  30. Re:The old ones have awakened by tmjva · · Score: 1

    Surprised you're the only one who brought this up.  The literature quotient of slashdot subscribers has fallen.

    Have you tried the "Antarctic Express" by Kenneth Hite?

    --
    Tracy Johnson
    Old fashioned text games hosted below:
    http://empire.openmpe.com/
    BT
  31. The earth has a huge molten core at the center by jerryjnormandin · · Score: 1

    I am willing to bet our plants molten core dynamo has something to do with this phenomenon. Possibly radiation enters the earth's north pole, interacts with the earth's dynamo and is spewed out through the earth's south pole ?

  32. Up? Or sort of up? by MiniMike · · Score: 1

    Did they get an accurate vector measurement or just a 'sort of up' instead of 'sort of down' measurement of the cosmic ray? One possibility to rule out is that the rays didn't travel through the bulk of the Earth, but just cut secants through a small portion of the Earth and then up into the detector. Didn't see this addressed in TFA. If these are coming in at a large angle from perpendicular, then this might not 'break' anything. If not, this would reinforce that this is something interesting.

  33. Influenced by Magnetic, not gravitational fields. by Martin+S. · · Score: 1

    Pardon my presumed ignorance.

    Doesn't this suggest whatever has been found is influenced more by the Earth Magnetic field than by its gravitational fields?

    If not, can somebody explain why?

  34. Re:Science Journalism by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    Maybe there's a hole or a tunnel.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  35. Re:Science Journalism by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    Perhaps you should have read a little further where it clarifies that. Did your finger get tired?

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  36. It's not *that* oblate by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    Isn't it weird if this only happens in Antarctica? But if it happens everywhere and nobody noticed before, isn't that weird?

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  37. All these SciFi references by cellocgw · · Score: 1

    And yet I'm the first to point out that these readings (obviously false) are planted by the sophons?

    --
    https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
  38. Re:30++ registered /.ers say differently #1/7 by Napoleon++BONERpart · · Score: 1

    msmash's gay title is gay!

  39. Re:30++ registered /.ers say differently #1/7 by Retard++Pusher · · Score: 1

    lol

  40. Streetlight Effect by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1

    Isn't it weird if this only happens in Antarctica?

    No, that is just the Streetlight effect. The ice in Antarctica makes an ideal medium for detecting these particles so it is not surprising that we see them there.