The Secrets Of The Universe Are Said To Lie In This South Dakota Gold Mine
Why must there be so many mysteries in life? Just what is the Missing Link, and is he (or she) some distant ancestor? Why must we hiccup? Is it safe to eat roadkill? While we may never know the answers to these great questions in life, we may soon know the secrets of the universe, thanks to this old South Dakota mine:
Located well beneath the surface of Lead is the Sanford Underground Research Facility, which is on a mission to find the "answers to the most fundamental questions about the universe."
Opened in 2006, the Sanford Underground Research Facility is housed inside the iconic Homestake Gold Mine, which — until its closure in 2002 — was regarded as the deepest and most productive gold mine in the Western Hemisphere.
Now the deepest underground laboratory in the country, the Sanford Underground Research Facility is on a mission to discover just how the universe even exists, which they hypothesize to be not only equal parts matter and antimatter, but something called neutrinos.
How will the scientists at Sanford prove their theory? The experiment will last 10 years, cost $1B+, and consist of removing some 870,000 tons of rock, but the researchers at both the Underground Research Facility and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Chicago plan to beam the neutrinos to each other from 800 miles away.
If the experiment is successful, what does it prove? According to researchers, it will show why matter dominates antimatter and if neutrinos did indeed play a role in the earth's formation.
From now until 2027, the Sanford Underground Research Facility will be removing the hundreds of thousands of tons of rock between Lead and Chicago, as well as installing a 4-story-high 70,000-ton neutrino detector, which will take up the Facility's time, manpower, and budget.
