Amber on Ice

IceCube. Work continues on the world’s largest neutrino detector, which — after 6 years of work — will occupy a cubic kilometer of ice beneath the South Pole Station on Antarctica, deploying 4,200 photomultiplier tubes into holes that a hot water drill will make in the ice. Neutrinos are special but hard to detect astronomical messengers that can carry information from violent cosmological events at the edge of the universe or from the hearts of black holes. The history of astronomy is that work in new energy regions invariably has discovered unexpected phenomena. By peering through a new window on the universe, IceCube could open new frontiers of understanding. During the 2006-07 austral summer, participants will drill 14 ice holes, deploy 14 IceCube strings and install 10 Ice-Top Stations and 20 Ice-Top tanks.