TwinCities.com:
Far below the Black Hills of South Dakota, crews are building
the world's deepest underground science lab called Homestake at
a depth equivalent to more than six Empire State
buildings—a place uniquely suited to scientists' quest
for mysterious particles known as dark matter.Scientists,
politicians, and other officials gathered 22 June for a
groundbreaking of sorts at a lab 4850 feet below the surface of
an old gold mine that was once the site of Nobel
Prize–winning physics research.The site is ideal for
experiments because its location is shielded from cosmic rays
that could interfere with efforts to prove the existence of
dark matter, which is thought to make up nearly a quarter of
the mass of the universe.The deepest reaches of the mine plunge
to 8000 feet below the surface. Some early geology and
hydrology experiments are already under way at 4850 feet.
Researchers also hope to build two deeper labs that are still
awaiting funding from Congress."The fact that we're going to be
in the Davis Cavern just tickles us pink," said Tom Shutt of
Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, referring to a
portion of the mine named after scientist Ray Davis Jr, who
used it in the 1960s to demonstrate the existence of particles
called solar neutrinos.
