By Amanabo Ocholi | Lagos, Nigeria
Scientists have uncovered a baffling mystery beneath the icy depths of Antarctica. The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA), a cosmic ray detector flying high above the frozen continent, has detected strange radio signals emanating from beneath the Earth’s surface—a phenomenon that defies current scientific understanding.
The international research group, which includes scientists from Penn State, made the discovery while using ANITA to detect ultra-high-energy neutrinos. These subatomic particles, which rarely interact with matter, are typically expected to skim the surface or bounce off the Earth. However, the signals detected by ANITA were observed at steep upward angles, suggesting they travelled up through the Earth’s crust before bursting out into the atmosphere.
Signal from could be coming from edge of universe
“The radio waves that we detected were at really steep angles, like 30 degrees below the surface of the ice,” said Stephanie Wissel, associate professor of physics, astronomy, and astrophysics at Penn State.
What puzzles the scientific community is that, according to existing models, such signals should have been absorbed by Earth’s dense layers. Their emergence at detectable levels implies either a flaw in current physics models or the presence of entirely unknown particles.
The discovery was published in the journal Physical Review Letters. Further cross-checks were made using data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica and the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina, but neither found anything comparable.
“It’s an interesting problem because we still don’t actually have an explanation for what those anomalies are, but what we do know is that they’re most likely not representing neutrinos,” Wissel added.
The signals may indicate the existence of new particles or interactions that are not accounted for in the Standard Model of particle physics. Some experts suggest that this could even point to the emergence of new physics—a groundbreaking shift in the scientific understanding of the universe.
Earlier, ANITA was designed to pick up radio signals from cosmic events such as supernovas, gamma-ray bursts, and even the Big Bang. Yet this latest finding is something else entirely.
As the mystery deepens, scientists are calling for further research and analysis to determine whether this could be the beginning of a new chapter in cosmic discovery.
Stay with The Bureau News for updates on this developing story
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