VOA科学技术2024--A Chinese Laboratory Aims to Study Neutrinos

 China plans to start operations of a huge experiment next year that aims to observe subatomic particles called neutrinos.

The goal is to gather information that will help physicists better understand matter itself. That information will help solve one of the biggest mysteries in particle physics.

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory, or JUNO, is in China's southern Guangdong province. It is expected to begin operations in 2025.

Reporters with the Reuters news agency recently reported on the laboratory in China. It also reported on similar efforts in the United States.

What is JUNO?

The JUNO center has cost more than $300 million to build. Part of it is a 35-meter-tall sphere that is 700 meters underground. A huge pool of water holds the sphere. The JUNO center also contains tens of thousands of tubes, which can sense and intensify light. They will be put in place in the coming months.

Chinese physicists and scientists from around the world are expected to study data on neutrinos from the center for up to six years. They will be hoping to find neutrinos that are produced by two nearby nuclear power stations.

JUNO is also expected to be able to observe neutrinos from the sun and from radioactive materials in the Earth. The hope is that studying such neutrinos will add to knowledge of solar processes and the forces that move the Earth's surface.

What is DUNE?

JUNO is expected to go into operation before a similar but much larger project in the United States. That project is called the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, or DUNE.

DUNE is part of an effort overseen by Fermilab, the top particle physics laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE. The whole experiment is known as the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility, or LBNF.

The LBNF has two main parts: one in South Dakota and the other in Illinois. However, DUNE is not expected to be complete until 2030. The experiment has had several delays and its estimated cost has gone past $3 billion.

Wang Yifang is chief scientist and project manager of JUNO. Wang recently spoke to Reuters during a media event supported by the Chinese government.

Wang said, "China had supported Fermilab's LBNF at the time, but later the cooperation could not continue." Wang added that "Around 2018-2019, the U.S. DOE asked all national laboratories not to cooperate with China, so Fermilab was forced to stop working with us."

The DOE did not answer Reuters' request for comment.

Sino-U.S. relations affected

Tensions between China and the U.S. have increased in recent years. In August, a science and technology agreement between China and the U.S. lapsed. The agreement dated back to when the U.S. recognized mainland China in 1979.

Supporters are concerned that the current situation will create duplication of research. They also say more scientists will seek different partners or miss out on chances to cooperate that could have led to useful discoveries.

Reuters says that institutions from France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the U.S. and Taiwan are involved in JUNO.

Neutrino observatories are also being built in other places.

Wang told Reuters, "The one in the U.S. will be six years behind us. And the one in the France and in Japan, they will be two or three years later than us. So we believe that we can get the result of mass hierarchy (of neutrinos) ahead of everybody."

"Mass hierarchy" is a complex question behind neutrinos that has to do with the mass of different kinds of neutrinos. The question of the mass states of neutrinos is considered a major mystery in particle physics.

So far, real-life neutrino use remains a distant possibility. Some scientists say neutrinos could be used to send long-distance messages because they can pass through solid matter at nearly the speed of light.

One U.S. group remains in JUNO. The group's leader says it has support from the National Science Foundation.

There were more than 12 U.S. organizations involved in an earlier neutrino project in China called the Daya Bay experiment.

Pedro Ochoa-Ricoux is with the University of California, Irvine. He said, "I believe that through our collaboration on this scientific endeavor, we are setting a positive example that may contribute, even in a small way, to bringing our countries closer together."

How data from JUNO will be shared

JUNO aims to record neutrinos passing from nuclear power stations in Guangdong. An official with JUNO said the information will be sent to Beijing and electronically relayed to Russia, France and Italy at the same time. The official said there is a system to make sure no data is missing.

Ochoa-Ricoux worked with China on the earlier Daya Bay experiment. He will lead the data analysis for JUNO. He also will be involved in the analysis for DUNE when it is available.

Wang, who is also head of China's version of Fermilab, said, "We welcome the Americans."

I'm Mario Ritter Jr. And I'm Jill Robbins.

Ryan Woo reported this story for Reuters. Mario Ritter, Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

sphere -n. a circle with height, width, and length like a globe

lapse -v. to fall into disuse; to no longer be in effect

duplication -v. to do something that is the same as something else and results in a copy

collaboration -n. cooperative labor towards a goal

contribute -v. to provide some aid in an effort that involves the many people providing help and materials

relay -v. to pass something from one place to another through a device

analysis -n. a careful study of information to learn something from it

0 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

0 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

0 lapsed   

adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He had lapsed into unconsciousness. 他陷入了昏迷状态。
• He soon lapsed into his previous bad habits. 他很快陷入以前的恶习中去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

0 hierarchy   

n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层

参考例句：

• There is a rigid hierarchy of power in that country.那个国家有一套严密的权力等级制度。
• She's high up in the management hierarchy.她在管理阶层中地位很高。

0 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

0 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

0 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

0 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

0 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

0 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

0 observatories   

n.天文台，气象台( observatory的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• John Heilbron, The Sun in the Church: Cathedrals as Solar Observatories, 3-23. 约翰．海耳布隆，《教会里的太阳：教堂即太阳观测台》，第3-23页。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists use satellites, land observatories and historical data to provide information about the weather. 气象学家使用卫星、上天文台和历史资料来提供有关天气的信息。 来自互联网

0 dune   

n.(由风吹积而成的)沙丘

参考例句：

• The sand massed to form a dune.沙积集起来成了沙丘。
• Cute Jim sat on the dune eating a prune in June.可爱的吉姆在六月天坐在沙丘上吃着话梅。

0 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

0 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。