Subatomic muons at the elab

Muons are subatomic particles created in our atmosphere from distant cosmic rays. How distant? Think supernova! Junior Tiffany Ravaglia has setup a pair of muon detectors in the energy lab to track these elusive particles that are going so fast, relativity predicts that time has slowed for them, and their distance to the earth has actually SHRUNK.

Tiffany studied relativity over the summer at Harvard and wanted to create a sensor network to measure these elusive, speedy particles, which are created about 15 km above the surface, and should only live long enough to reach 10 km from the earth surface. 

The fact that Tiffany can not only detect these particles, but also measure their activity has created a new station in a global radio telescope network, allowing radio astronomers around the world to collaborate with the date Tiffany is gathering in real time, as her sensors send instant data to servers at MIT in Massachusetts.

To view this data, here is a link to the cosmic observatory network, and to see Tiffany's progress click here

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