A team of Penn State scientists has made an intriguing discovery in Antarctica, detecting anomalous radio pulses that seem to originate from beneath the ice. The team, led by associate professor Stephanie Wissel, was conducting an experiment searching for neutrinos when they stumbled upon these unusual signals.
According to Wissel, the team uses balloon-mounted particle detectors to scan for neutrino interactions, which produce radio emissions. However, instead of detecting expected signals from cosmic neutrinos, they found bizarre radio pulses at steep angles, suggesting that the signals had traveled through thousands of kilometers of solid rock before reaching the detectors.
The team compared their findings with mathematical models and simulations, ruling out known sources of radio pulses originating from beneath the ice. While the results don’t provide a clear explanation for the anomalies, Wissel suggests that “interesting radio propagation effects” near the horizon might be responsible.
Several possibilities, including dark matter and new particle interactions, remain as potential explanations for the mysterious detections. The team is now building a new detector called PUEO, which may help shed light on the phenomenon.
Follow-up observations by other experiments, such as IceCube and Pierre Auger Observatory, are expected to narrow down the possible causes. For now, the discovery leaves scientists with more questions than answers, making it one of the long-standing mysteries in particle physics.
Source: https://thedebrief.org/antarctica-scientists-dont-actually-have-an-explanation-for-strange-radio-pulses-coming-from-below-the-ice