Scientists at the Sanford Lab are working to land another major research project.
The Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment or LBNE may sound like something out of a 1960’s science fiction movie, but it may become reality at the Sanford Lab as soon as 2017.
The experiment includes a large neutrino gun located at Fermi Lab near Chicago that shoots a beam of the tiny particles through the earth and into detectors located at the Sanford Lab.
Joshua Willhite is the Director of Engineering at the Sanford Lab. He says funding for this kind of science can have very positive implications for the future of science and technology.
“I think there are many, many examples in his story where we’ve studies things that did not appear to have any practical use and they really opened up new avenues for us to discover things that have become parts of our daily lives. And this is one of those such projects,” says Willhite.
Officials say the LBNE could add decades to the lifespan of the Sanford Lab. More than 350 scientists from around the world are backing the project. The proposed experiment is in the initial stages of approval and regulatory hurdles before federal funding for construction can be secured.
The website for the LBNE experiment has more information on a series of upcoming public meetings detailing the Environmental Impact Study underway on the proposal. Sandford Lab Scientists are also holding a public luncheon and talk in Mitchell on Thursday looking at the deep underground science happening at Homestake.