video: For more than a decade -- in the most inhospitable place on Earth, scientists have been building an observatory to search for a "ghost." The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a massive telescope embedded in the Antarctic ice near the South Pole. Its aim: to search for elusive subatomic particles called neutrinos that have made their way to earth from distant cosmic events like supernovas and black holes. The telescope is constructed by using a specially designed hot-water drill to tunnel two kilometers down into the ice and deploying strings of optical sensors that freeze into place. When he’s not in the Antarctic, physicist Francis Halzen works on the project from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Neutrino research is pushing the astrophysics envelope, and should provide answers to key questions about dark energy and dark matter. view more
Credit: Marsha Walton, Science Nation Producer