Indian Scientists Launch Dark Matter Lab Under Uranium Mine

[PïXëL]

Indian scientists have finally started their research on dark matter at the Jaduguda Underground Science Laboratory, 550 meters below the surface in an operating uranium mine.

New Delhi (Sputnik) – To accommodate the new facility, the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics has repurposed a 37-square-meter cavern used for storage at the Jaduguda uranium mining complex, including installing a low-temperature cesium iodide detector to search for dark matter.

The proposal for such a study was made five years ago: Indian physicists were running from pillar to post seeking a new underground research laboratory after the closure of a similar facility at Bharat Gold Mine in the southern state of Karnataka in early 1992. The right location was key: an underground lab is important for scientists studying dark matter because radiation from outer space usually contaminates such experiments.

"In the frontier science area, we are establishing a small underground research laboratory in one of our uranium mines for pursuing research on dark matter. This will enthuse scientists from all generations," Sekhar Basu, secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy of India, said at the 61st General Council of IAEA on Wednesday.


India conceptualized the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) Project in 2012 as a multi-institutional effort aimed at building a world-class underground laboratory and associated surface facilities in the Bodi West hills of the southern state of Tamil Nadu. It was delayed due to petitions filed by activists, however.

This underground lab located at Jadugoda will provide the much-awaited facility for a part of INO called multiton-scale dark matter search experiment or DINO (Darkmatter@INO). However, Jadugoda lab is only a mini-DINO — India is planning a large-scale DINO experiment at a future stage.

"We knew of an estimated 5 percent of the possible 30 percent [of] matters existing in the universe and this new facility will help us to research about the unknown matters," Basu said earlier this month. A quantitative understanding of the matter-antimatter asymmetry observed in nature is also lacking, he said.

https://sputniknews.com/society/201709211057593508-Indian-Scientists-Launch-Dark-Matter-Lab/

 

[Michael Corleone]

Indian scientists have finally started their research on dark matter at the Jaduguda Underground Science Laboratory, 550 meters below the surface in an operating uranium mine.

New Delhi (Sputnik) – To accommodate the new facility, the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics has repurposed a 37-square-meter cavern used for storage at the Jaduguda uranium mining complex, including installing a low-temperature cesium iodide detector to search for dark matter.

The proposal for such a study was made five years ago: Indian physicists were running from pillar to post seeking a new underground research laboratory after the closure of a similar facility at Bharat Gold Mine in the southern state of Karnataka in early 1992. The right location was key: an underground lab is important for scientists studying dark matter because radiation from outer space usually contaminates such experiments.

"In the frontier science area, we are establishing a small underground research laboratory in one of our uranium mines for pursuing research on dark matter. This will enthuse scientists from all generations," Sekhar Basu, secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy of India, said at the 61st General Council of IAEA on Wednesday.


India conceptualized the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) Project in 2012 as a multi-institutional effort aimed at building a world-class underground laboratory and associated surface facilities in the Bodi West hills of the southern state of Tamil Nadu. It was delayed due to petitions filed by activists, however.

This underground lab located at Jadugoda will provide the much-awaited facility for a part of INO called multiton-scale dark matter search experiment or DINO (Darkmatter@INO). However, Jadugoda lab is only a mini-DINO — India is planning a large-scale DINO experiment at a future stage.

"We knew of an estimated 5 percent of the possible 30 percent [of] matters existing in the universe and this new facility will help us to research about the unknown matters," Basu said earlier this month. A quantitative understanding of the matter-antimatter asymmetry observed in nature is also lacking, he said.

https://sputniknews.com/society/201709211057593508-Indian-Scientists-Launch-Dark-Matter-Lab/

the hadron collider is also underground?

 

[Nilgiri]

the hadron collider is also underground?

Yep.

 

[bananarepublic]

ooooohh nice !!

 

[Michael Corleone]

Yep.

Oh wow. But I'm concerned about this one cause what if it blows up, gonna send all the radioactive dust up in the air above.

 

[Mrc]

Oh wow. But I'm concerned about this one cause what if it blows up, gonna send all the radioactive dust up in the air above.

Don't wory ... it has to work to blow up... just appreciate the confidence

 

[Shinigami]

Don't wory ... it has to work to blow up... just appreciate the confidence

India Through Pakistani Eyes
Pervez Hoodbhoy

· Taking science to the masses has become a kind of mantra all over India. My columnist friend Praful Bidwai - a powerful critic of the Indian state and its militaristic policies - counts among India's greatest achievements the energisation of its democracy and refers to "our social movements, with their rich traditions of people's self-organisation, innovative protest and daring questioning of power". These movements have ensured that, unlike in Pakistan, land grabbers in Indian cities have found fierce
resistance when they try to gobble up public spaces - parks, zoos, playgrounds, historical sites, etc. Praful should also include in his list the huge number of science popularization movements, sometimes supported by the state but often spontaneous. These are sweeping through India's towns and villages, seeking to bring about an understanding of natural phenomena, teach simple health care, and introduce technology appropriate to a rural environment. There is not even one comparable Pakistani counterpart. I watched some science communicators, such as Arvind Gupta at IUCAA in Pune, whose infectious enthusiasm leaves children thrilled and desirous of pursuing careers in science. Individual Indian states have funded and created numerous impressive planetariums and science museums, and local organizations are putting out a huge volume of written and audio-visual science materials in the local languages.

· Attitudes of Indian scientists towards science are conservative. Progress through science is an immensely popular notion in India, stressed both by past and present leaders. But what is science understood to be? I was a little jolted upon reading Nehru's words, written in stone at the entrance to the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute for Advanced Research in Bangalore: "I too have worshipped at the shrine of science". The notion of "worship" and "shrine of science" do not go well with the modern science and the scientific temper. Science is about challenging, not worshipping. As a secular man, Nehru was not given to worship but his metaphorical allusions to industries and factories as temples of science found full resonance. Indeed, science in India is largely seen as an instrument that
enhances productive capabilities, and not as a transformational tool for producing an informed, just, and rational society. Most Indian scientists are techno-nationalists - they put their science at the service of their state rather than the people. In this respect, Pakistan is no different.

 

[PïXëL]

Don't wory ... it has to work to blow up... just appreciate the confidence

We will import Pakistani high skilled engineers for that.

 

[Mrc]

India Through Pakistani Eyes
Pervez Hoodbhoy

· Taking science to the masses has become a kind of mantra all over India. My columnist friend Praful Bidwai - a powerful critic of the Indian state and its militaristic policies - counts among India's greatest achievements the energisation of its democracy and refers to "our social movements, with their rich traditions of people's self-organisation, innovative protest and daring questioning of power". These movements have ensured that, unlike in Pakistan, land grabbers in Indian cities have found fierce
resistance when they try to gobble up public spaces - parks, zoos, playgrounds, historical sites, etc. Praful should also include in his list the huge number of science popularization movements, sometimes supported by the state but often spontaneous. These are sweeping through India's towns and villages, seeking to bring about an understanding of natural phenomena, teach simple health care, and introduce technology appropriate to a rural environment. There is not even one comparable Pakistani counterpart. I watched some science communicators, such as Arvind Gupta at IUCAA in Pune, whose infectious enthusiasm leaves children thrilled and desirous of pursuing careers in science. Individual Indian states have funded and created numerous impressive planetariums and science museums, and local organizations are putting out a huge volume of written and audio-visual science materials in the local languages.

· Attitudes of Indian scientists towards science are conservative. Progress through science is an immensely popular notion in India, stressed both by past and present leaders. But what is science understood to be? I was a little jolted upon reading Nehru's words, written in stone at the entrance to the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute for Advanced Research in Bangalore: "I too have worshipped at the shrine of science". The notion of "worship" and "shrine of science" do not go well with the modern science and the scientific temper. Science is about challenging, not worshipping. As a secular man, Nehru was not given to worship but his metaphorical allusions to industries and factories as temples of science found full resonance. Indeed, science in India is largely seen as an instrument that
enhances productive capabilities, and not as a transformational tool for producing an informed, just, and rational society. Most Indian scientists are techno-nationalists - they put their science at the service of their state rather than the people. In this respect, Pakistan is no different.

Pakistan. Is a free country ... Mr hoodbhoy writes bull$hit all the time... we don't mind... don't take him seriously

 

[Shinigami]

Pakistan. Is a free country ... Mr hoodbhoy writes bull$hit all the time... we don't mind... don't take him seriously

not surprised.
an enlightened mind is not taken seriously by fools.

he is a nuclear physicist isnt he? i am guessing he is one of the top 3 most intelligent people in pakistan

Another clip of his:

India’s young ones are a huge reservoir of enthusiasm for science. Surveys show that 12-16 year olds practically worship Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, are fascinated by black holes and Schrödinger cats, and most want a career in science. They see more prestige in this than becoming doctors, lawyers, financial managers, or army officers. Although most eventually settle for more conventional professions, this eagerness leads India’s very best students towards science.

Ten years ago, I had personally experienced this youthful enthusiasm during a four-week lecture tour across seven Indian cities that took me to all sorts of schools, colleges, and universities. In places, hundreds turned up for my talks on scientific subjects. Every city had at least one much-visited science museum, and sometimes two or three. Student scientific societies, which appeared active, were everywhere.

 

[Skull and Bones]

Don't wory ... it has to work to blow up... just appreciate the confidence

I recon, blowing up is a Pakistani forte.

 

[Mrc]

Yeah sure.... tag me when u guys find dark matter....

 

[Nilgiri]

Oh wow. But I'm concerned about this one cause what if it blows up, gonna send all the radioactive dust up in the air above.

Uh there are will be no collisions happening at the (artificially propagated) energy levels that happen in LHC. Rather it will be attempting to harness and detect the existing dark matter flux Earth is theoretically subject to (can look up the Italian based experiment that used Sodium Iodide some years back).

Caesium iodide is an ionic compound with next to no inherent radioactivity (such has to be induced, I doubt the dark matter flux is large enough to do so). The challenges would be designing and creating a sensitive enough sensor (the required purity of the substrate and all the electronics and processing to go with it) and of course isolating it so the background noise is mitigated (done by using this underground cavern).

The specific ionization/scattering modes of these kinds of iodide crystals with hypothetical dark matter is still ongoing research....it is a bit of chicken and the egg kind of situation.

 

[bloo]

Commies and everybody else in Tamil Nadu are continuously creating problems for the INO.
They have been using these tactics for years, they make science organisations and institutes jump through hoops in order to discourage them.

They have been shifting the site and disallowing it after, since 2009.
And only recently they suspended the environmental clearance that was granted to INO.

 

[Great Sachin]

Great going....