A sort of telescope, it consists of strings of photomultiplier tubes sunk deep into the Antarctic ice using a hot-water drill.
Neutrinos are particles without electric charge and, as far as scientists know, they have no mass.
Neutrinos are hard to find because their interaction with matter is extremely feeble, producing nothing more than a fleeting burst of light. Supernovae, which are exploding stars, distant galaxies are believed to emit neutrinos. Finding the elusive particle would open a new realm of astronomy. The hunt for the cosmic neutrino is on. The nearly massless particle is rocketed through space, scientists think, by supernovas, black holes, quasars, gamma ray bursts and whirling neutron stars.