Too Close For Comfort: Neutrinos from Atom Bombs

210722 In the early days of neutrino research, it was suspected that nuclear reactions would emit the particles. So when physicist Frederick Reines decided he needed to get a neutrino detector close to a nuclear explosion. Easier said than done. Here, Francis Halzen, a physicist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, describes one of the methods Reines and colleague Clyde Cowan devised to take readings from an atom bomb. In the end, it was decided it was easier and safer to instead take readings from a nuclear reactor. The resulting experiment confirmed the existence of the neutrino, and Reines and Cowan would go on to receive the 1995 Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery.

Watch the full program here: https://youtu.be/CBfUHzkcaHQ
Original program Date: June 1, 2012

The World Science Festival gathers great minds in science and the arts to produce live and digital content that allows a broad general audience to engage with scientific discoveries. Our mission is to cultivate a general public informed by science, inspired by its wonder, convinced of its value, and prepared to engage with its implications for the future.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for all the latest from WSF.
Visit our Website: http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldsciencefestival
Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/WorldSciFest