A new system that uses subatomic particles produced high in Earth's atmosphere could provide a view inside volcanoes and help locate people trapped beneath rubble.
Scientists have harnessed the byproducts of cosmic rays to create the world's first"GPS" system that works underground — and it could be used to monitor volcanoes and aid in future search-and-rescue missions.
When cosmic rays — high-energy particles produced by the sun, stellar explosions called supernovas and mysterious sources outside our Milky Way galaxy — smash into Earth's upper atmosphere, they break into showers of particles that eventually decay into muons. Similar to electrons in their structure but 207 times as heavy, roughly a million muons zip harmlessly through our bodies at near light speed every night.
To take into account the travel time of the muons between the reference stations and the receiver, the researchers connected the five detectors with wires so they could communicate the time difference between them.
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