Fun physics writeup

[Jan Panteltje]

Neutrinos: The inscrutable “ghost particles” driving scientists crazy
They hold the keys to new physics. If only we could understand them.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/06/neutrinos-are-infuriating-but-we-still-have-to-study-them/

[Bill Sloman]

Neutrinos: The inscrutable “ghost particles” driving scientists crazy
They hold the keys to new physics. If only we could understand them.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/06/neutrinos-are-infuriating-but-we-still-have-to-study-them/

They aren't driving anybody crazy. But claiming that they were was a
neat way of structuring a popular science progress report.

Jan Panteltje isn't a sophisticated reader, and still has hopes the the
neutrino - or a neutrino - might work as Le Sage's famous mechanical
explanation of gravity.

[john larkin]

Neutrinos: The inscrutable “ghost particlesâ€? driving scientists crazy
They hold the keys to new physics. If only we could understand them.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/06/neutrinos-are-infuriating-but-we-still-have-to-study-them/

Remember this?

On 12 November 2001, about 6,600 of the photomultiplier tubes (costing
about $3000 each[13]) in the Super-Kamiokande detector imploded,
apparently in a chain reaction or cascading failure, as the shock wave
from the concussion of each imploding tube cracked its neighbours.

[Cursitor Doom]

Post by john larkin

Neutrinos: The inscrutable “ghost particlesâ€? driving scientists
crazy They hold the keys to new physics. If only we could understand
them.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/06/neutrinos-are-infuriating-but-

we-still-have-to-study-them/

Post by john larkin
Remember this?
On 12 November 2001, about 6,600 of the photomultiplier tubes (costing
about $3000 each[13]) in the Super-Kamiokande detector imploded,
apparently in a chain reaction or cascading failure, as the shock wave
from the concussion of each imploding tube cracked its neighbours.

"[13]" ?

[john larkin]

On Wed, 12 Jun 2024 17:26:20 -0000 (UTC), Cursitor Doom

Post by Jan Panteltje

Post by john larkin

Neutrinos: The inscrutable â??ghost particlesâ?? driving scientists
crazy They hold the keys to new physics. If only we could understand
them.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/06/neutrinos-are-infuriating-but-

we-still-have-to-study-them/

Post by john larkin
Remember this?
On 12 November 2001, about 6,600 of the photomultiplier tubes (costing
about $3000 each[13]) in the Super-Kamiokande detector imploded,
apparently in a chain reaction or cascading failure, as the shock wave
from the concussion of each imploding tube cracked its neighbours.

"[13]" ?

The text is from wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super-Kamiokande

Even breaking one PMT is a distressing event.

[Bill Sloman]

Post by john larkin

Neutrinos: The inscrutable “ghost particles� driving scientists crazy
They hold the keys to new physics. If only we could understand them.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/06/neutrinos-are-infuriating-but-we-still-have-to-study-them/

Remember this?
On 12 November 2001, about 6,600 of the photomultiplier tubes (costing
about $3000 each[13]) in the Super-Kamiokande detector imploded,
apparently in a chain reaction or cascading failure, as the shock wave
from the concussion of each imploding tube cracked its neighbours.

It seems improbable than any individual tube imploding could have
cracked any of it neighbours. The tubes are quite a way apart. It sounds
more like an external shock going through and persuading a number of
individual tubes to implode close enough together to amplify the initial
external shock into a more intense plane wave that could collapse even
more of those along its path.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Particles/kamio.html

In reality, it happened during a maintenance operation while the tank
was partly empty to allow some burnt-out tubes to be replaced.

Some 5200 tubes survived the incident, so John's description is
inaccurate and somewhat misleading.