In 1998 a detector in Japan called the Super-Kamiokande indicated that muon neutrinos generated in the upper atmosphere were disappearing. Scientists suspected that the muons were transforming into heavier neutrinos Super-Kamiokande could not detect.
"The disappearance of these neutrinos was a shock because it implied they had mass," says Dr. Conrad. "MINOS will try to determine what the mass is and where the neutrinos are going—those are the big questions."
In a world where neutrinos have mass, undiscovered particles may exist in dimensions beyond the three spatial dimensions and a fourth dimension of time that man usually uses to describe phenomena.
If neutrinos have mass, they would also be associated with gravity, says Conrad. Neutrinos could "smooth out the universe" by pulling and tugging at other objects. "Without neutrinos' mass we might have a much lumpier universe," she suggests.
With so many neutrinos in the universe, their combined mass would be truly astronomical. "The neutrino mass would rival the mass of all the stars and galaxies you can see," says Wojcicki. "It's very exciting from the point of view that we really may be probing very, very new physics."
This story airs on National Geographic Today Wednesday, May 22, 2002. National Geographic Today, at 7 pm. ET/PT in the United States, is a daily news magazine available only on the National Geographic Channel. Click here to request it.
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