In a laboratory located above the foggy forests of the American state of South Dakota, scientists are searching for the answer to one of the biggest questions in science: why does our Universe exist?
In their search for that answer, they are in a kind of race with a team of Japanese scientists, who are believed to be several years ahead of them.
The current theory of the origin of the universe does not explain the existence of the planets, stars, and galaxies we see today.
Both teams are building detectors that study a subatomic particle called a neutrino, in the hope that it will provide the answers.
An international collaborative project led by scientists from the United States (US) is pinning its hopes on an experiment to study neutrinos, called Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) and takes place deep below the Earth's surface.
Scientists will descend 1.500 meters underground into three huge underground caves.
They are so grandiose that compared to their size, construction machinery and bulldozers seem like small plastic toys.
Jarrett Heise, the facility's scientific director, describes these caves as "cathedrals of science."
He has been involved in their construction for almost ten years as part of the Sanford Underground Research Station (SURF).
They completely isolate DUNE from noise and radiation coming from the surface.
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Now DUNE is ready for the next phase.
"We are ready to build a detector that will change our understanding of the universe, using instruments that will be deployed by a team of more than 1.400 scientists from 35 countries."
"Everyone is dedicated to finding the answer to the question - why do we exist," he says.
When the universe was created, two types of particles were created: matter, which is what makes up stars, planets, and everything around us, and, in equal amounts, antimatter, the opposite of matter.
In theory, matter and antimatter should have annihilated each other, leaving behind only a huge burst of energy.
However, we, as matter, exist.
Scientists believe that the answers to the questions of why matter won and why we exist lie precisely in the study of the neutrino and its antiparticle - the antineutrino.
As part of the experiment, scientists will send beams of both types of particles from an underground facility in the US state of Illinois to detectors in South Dakota, almost 1.300 kilometers away.
This is because neutrinos and antineutrinos slightly change their properties as they travel.
Scientists want to discover whether these changes are different for neutrinos and antineutrinos.
If they are, this could pave the way to answering the question of why matter and antimatter did not cancel each other out.
DUNE is an international cooperation project involving 1.400 scientists from thirty countries.
Among them is Kate Shaw from the University of Sussex, England, who says future discoveries will change our understanding of the universe and humanity's view of itself.
"It's incredibly exciting that we're here now and that we're technologically, engineeringly, and software-wise ready to tackle these big questions," says the doctor.
On the other side of the world, Japanese scientists are using shiny golden spheres in search of the same answers.
Their facility, shining in full glory, looks like a temple of science, a mirror of the “cathedral” in South Dakota, 9.650 kilometers away.
Japanese team Hiper-Kamiokande (Hyper-K), an upgraded and larger version of their current neutrino research laboratory, Super-Kamiokande (Super-K).
They will be ready to launch their own neutrino beam in less than three years, several years ahead of the American project.
Like DUNE, Hiper-K is a project of international cooperation.
Mark Scott of Imperial College London believes his team is in a better position to make one of the biggest discoveries about the origin of the universe.
"We're starting the experiment earlier, and we have a larger detector, so we should get results faster than DUNE," he says.
Working on an experiment simultaneously allows experts to learn more than they could from a single source.
"I'd still like us to be the first to get to the answer," adds Dr. Scott.
However, Linda Cremonesi from Queen Mary University of London, who is working on the DUNE project, points out that just because the Japanese team may be first doesn't mean they will get the full picture of what's going on.
“Racing is one factor, but Hyper-K doesn't yet have all the components needed to understand what happens if neutrinos and antineutrinos behave differently,” she says.
The race is underway, but the first results are expected only in a few years.
The question of what exactly happened at the beginning of time that made our existence possible remains a mystery, at least for now.
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