Boffins quietly cheering the possible discovery of sterile neutrinos

Discussion in 'Science' started by cerberus, Jun 4, 2018.

  1. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    "It needs more sigmas, but Fermilab boffins are carefully speculating that they may have seen evidence of a new fundamental particle, the sterile neutrino."

    Said one of the boffins in a transport of excitement. 'This could be a game-changer, and provided the research funding keep on gushing in, our jobs will be secure oops, er, I mean our 'careful speculation' might eventually show positive results. But don't hold your breath because this could take some time.'

    https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/06/04/miniboone_sterile_neturinos/

    How do you 'cheer quietly'? [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2018
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  2. tecoyah

    tecoyah Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    In other news:

    An internet Troll on a forum created a new thread attempting to belittle science he does not understand. In a statement he said 'Aye ain't all dat smart an stuff but dees thangys day yappin 'bout aint fer reals an day just wantses muney'.

    He was later found in the basement closet playing with blocks covered in drool.


     
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  3. One Mind

    One Mind Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Wonder how many particles are left to discover?
     
  4. tecoyah

    tecoyah Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Likely quite a few, but everything left will be exceedingly difficult to find and prove due to virtually no interaction with known matter. Considering that our instruments are obviously made of matter as we know it, the whole "Dark Universe" is pure speculation as required. Perhaps someday a new genius will figure it out but until then we just use imagination.
     
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  5. One Mind

    One Mind Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Can't help but be reminded of philosophy or religion here.

    Difficult to prove because these potential particles have virtually no interaction with matter...and then instruments used to detect and measure are of course matter. Seems like a conundrum.
     
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  6. tecoyah

    tecoyah Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Was a time when the Atom fit the same criteria. As technology evolves the mysterious and imagined become discovery and fact....this is the way of science.
     
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  7. DarkDaimon

    DarkDaimon Well-Known Member

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    The key word in your sentence is "virtually".
     
  8. One Mind

    One Mind Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Then explain please. Do they have interaction with matter or don't they? If yes, then it would be worthy to note what kind of matter they do interact with, which might imply that they do exist. Thoughts?
     
  9. One Mind

    One Mind Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    And then there was the english physicist who before quantum theory he made the silly statement that we already have the knowledge yielded by physics and there wasn't anything left to discover...or something like that. ha ha
     
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  10. DarkDaimon

    DarkDaimon Well-Known Member

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    Because of the small size of neutrinos and the fact that they possess no electrical charge to interact with, means that neutrinos only have a 1 in 10 (to the power of) 25 chance of actually colliding with an atom in your body. This is why neutrino detectors are basically huge tanks of water or ice.
     
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  11. Jonsa

    Jonsa Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Speaking of virtual no interaction with regular matter.

    SNOLAB is using a variety of high sensitive detectors in the deepest lab on the planet trying to detect dark matter.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNOLAB
    As of September 2015 SNOLAB hosts five operating physics experiments:[10][11]:2[12][13]

    • The HALO (Helium and Lead Observatory) supernova neutrino detector,
    • DAMIC (Dark Matter in CCDs) detector,[14][15]
    • The PICO 2L dark matter search prototype[11]:41[16] (PICO is a merger of the former PICASSO and COUPP collaborations),[17][18]
    • The second-generation PICO-60 dark matter search,[19] formerly named COUPP-60[20] and
    • The second-generation DEAP-3600 dark matter detector,[21] using 3600 kg of liquid argon,[11]:14,21 has completed construction and is commissioning,[22][23] with first physics results expected in 2016.
     
  12. One Mind

    One Mind Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    But they can collide with an atom, and we have detected this? So we know they exist, but almost undetectable? In the case of the sterile neutron, have we actually detected it, or it is a hypothesis? And wonder if it has the same odds for interacting with matter? You may not know given the newness, but thought I would ask anyways.

    Hypothetically then, there could be even smaller particles/waves than neutrinos that given their size are undetectable? With the odds being even more astronomical than neutrinos in regards to interacting with an atom? And if so, there may never be way of detection, halting the quest for fundamental particles?
     
  13. One Mind

    One Mind Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    There is a chance dark matter does not exist, right? Even if accepted equations demand it in order to work out, to bring coherence to the thinking/theory? To find a source for the gravity needed but missing if we only consider matter?

    To most people who are not physicists dark matter looks like magic. The unseen and so far undetected, affecting the universe in a most important manner, for without it, galaxies would never form.

    Of course if dark matter does not exist, then we have huge problems within astro physics, right? And so, it must exist! Just pondering...
     
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  14. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    It's a bellwether run by NASA on behalf of western governments to monitor how the dumbing down program is going. When 90% of the populaces have fallen for all the crap then that'll be Mission Accomplished.
     
  15. fmw

    fmw Well-Known Member

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    I have a Physicist friend who believes dark matter is bunk. He says the scientific world just can't ante up to the reality that their knowledge isn't as complete as the scientists think it is. He says if you need to invent something you can't detect or describe in order to make equations work, then there is likely something wrong with the equations.
     
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  16. One Mind

    One Mind Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I have heard a couple scientists express the same thoughts. But perhaps they are in the minority? Not sure.

    Scientists are human beings, affected with the same human nature others are. Many have based their creds on the position that they hold, as well as their employment and respect within political academia. The are invested personally in their positions held.

    Something wrong with the equations would probably involve more than just the equations in that it would involve the understanding itself of reality. Right? And that might involve a shift in paradigm.
     
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  17. tecoyah

    tecoyah Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    This is one of the problems science often runs into....human imagination. There are those who simply call things magic and dismiss them and those who seek explanation that eliminates the magic from reality....we usually end up calling those guys genius. If Dark Matter does not exist, its not so much a problem as an opportunity to look elsewhere because the issue does not go away with the hypothesis. The Dark Universe is not called "Dark" because of any reflective property it is dark because it is unknown, so we try to make it known.
    It is possible gaining an understanding could unlock the secrets of Gravity which would obviously effect almost every aspect of human understanding and venture, so a lot of effort goes into figuring it out. If it is particle interaction or field dynamics we can ,manipulate to our benefit and if some strange inter dimentional byproduct who knows. The point being we do not know, but sure as hell want to.
     
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2018
  18. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    It has turned into a worldwide industry, so good luck to them I suppose. Wish that I could get a piece of the action - a lucrative job for life is a good return for making up unprovable crap. Of all the times I've asked the elephant in the room question 'Why Mars, when we will never be able to live there?' I've never had a sensible answer.
     
  19. expatpanama

    expatpanama Active Member

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    Neutrinos definitely do interact w/ other forms of matter, so much so that if a nearby star went super nova our earth would get showered w/ enough of 'em to kill most life on the planet.
     
  20. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Seems more like nonsense-speak to me.
     
  21. One Mind

    One Mind Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Well, science demands an open mind and not a closed one. And so of course when dark matter is needed for galaxies to form, under current understanding, there is nothing wrong with coming up with the idea of dark matter. Just as long as it does not come to be a dogma based upon an assumption, but remains an open question at some level.
     
  22. One Mind

    One Mind Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    So the neutrinos we get exposed to are far to few to affect us? And it would take a direct stream, concentrated in order for us to be affected?
     
  23. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    But there's a difference btween 'an open mind' and a gullible one? It's like when your tv goes wrong - you just have to believe the tv engineer: it might be just a loose 'widget', but if the engineer tells you all the pixels have suddenly disappeared you have no choice other than to believe it and let him sell you a new one?
     
  24. drluggit

    drluggit Well-Known Member

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    As with many things, science hinges their process on a premise that it must be logical. Why?
     
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  25. One Mind

    One Mind Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Well, it was explained that "virtually" does not mean a total absence of interaction with matter. So there is interaction but given the size of the particle and the size of an atom and the space between atoms only a relative few neutrons interact with atoms by coming into contact. And there is a math that determines this how likely it is. If I understand it correctly.
     

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