UPSC Express

Neutrino

• Very similar to electrons
• Second most abundant particles after photon
• Don’t carry any charge
• Are not massless
• Neutrinos are miniscule particles created in nuclear reactions, such as in the birth and death of sun and the stars, or in nuclear power plants.
• Neutrinos interact with matter via the weak force. The weakness of this force gives neutrinos the property that matter is almost trans- parent to them.
• Since they rarely interact, these neutrinos pass through the Sun, and even the Earth, unhindered. There are many other natural sources of neutrinos including exploding stars (supernovae), relic neutrinos, natural radioactivity, and cosmic ray interactions in the atmosphere of the Earth.

 

Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO) project —

INO, a proposed, underground observatory in Tamil Nadu to detect ephemeral particles called neutrinos — had been cleared by the Union government in 2015, after several years of deliberations, but has been stalled for over a year due to protests by activist groups, concerned over its environmental impact.