Pole position: Deep under the ice of Antarctica, a telescope is taking shape - not one in the conventional sense of the word, based around optics or a radio dish

摘要

THE TELESCOPE that is the IceCube array is encased in ice up to 2.4km below the surface at the South Pole in a 1km cube, hence the name. When building is complete by the end of January 2010, it will be the largest particle detector in the world. It needs to be so large because of the neutrino's peculiar properties. Often travelling at close to the speed of light, they are, as their name suggests, electrically neutral, so they're not deflected by interstellar magnetic fields, while their tiny mass - even by sub-atomic standards - allows them to pass through any intervening matter, like the Earth, pretty much unhindered.