Meet OPERA, a massive experiment shaking the world of physics that lies deep inside the Gran Sasso mountain near L'Aquila, Italy.
OPERA stands for Oscillation Project with Emulsion-tRacking Apparatus. It detects neutrinos - an elusive type of subatomic particle - originating 730 kilometres away at the CERN physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland.
OPERA's detector is made of two huge, identical modules, each weighing 625 tonnes. The modules contain sheets of lead that produce electrically charged particles called taus when hit by neutrinos. The taus leave tracks on sheets of photographic film and strike strips of plastic to produce brief flashes of light, revealing the precise time of the neutrino's arrival.
The OPERA collaboration is making waves with its recent announcement that it has detected neutrinos apparently travelling faster than the speed of light, in violation of Einstein's cosmic speed limit.
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Sateesh.smart
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