The 34th meeting of the LSC Scientific Advisory Committee took place on 21-22 May. The Committee heard presentations from the experiments: ANAIS, CROSS, NEXT and DAMIC and assessed the written reports of the rest of the experiments.
At the LSC we organise monthly seminars related to the different scientific and technical areas in which we work. Susana Cebrián, researcher of the CAPA group at the University of Zaragoza and expert in cosmogenic activation of materials, presented the results of her latest research. In this talk, she explained the importance of quantifying and controlling the radioactivity induced in materials by cosmic radiation, fundamental aspect for reducing the radioactive background in rare event experiments, such as those we host at the LSC .
A group of experts in biochemistry, microbiology and virology, in charge of evaluating the progress of the experiments and analysing new proposals in biology, met on Monday 29 April at the LSC. This evaluation committee will prepare the necessary evaluation report for the scientific committee to be held on 21 and 22 May in Canfranc.
El telescopio HK detectará neutrinos gracias a 22.000 tubos fotomultiplicadores (PMTs) colocados en el interior del tanque. Para evitar la posible ruptura en cadena de estos es esencial encontrar el diseño óptimo de una cubierta que absorba la onda explansiva que se produce tras la ruptura de un PMT.
On 6 March, the LSC held a Scientific Day. This time, it was aimed at science students in the 2nd year of Bachillerato from the high schools of Jaca. During this day, the students participated in different workshops and learned about the most commonly used techniques at the LSC, such as copper electroforming or gamma spectroscopy. The day ended with a visit to the underground facilities.
On 16 February, the planned onsite works of experiment PB-02-22: "Effect of low radiaction and microgravity on C.elegans infection" were completed. In this last round, staff from the Evolutionary Systems Virology group (I2SysBio) conducted assays to quantitatively study the effects of low radiation and microgravity on viral infection and intestinal permeability. Developmental changes between above- and under-ground populations were also studied.
The sixth implosion test campaign, led by the LSC and carried out at the SOCIB facilities (Mallorca), has recently been successfully completed. These campaigns aim to validate the viability of the protective covers of the sensors of the future HK telescope.
This week the first onsite phase of the PB-07-23 experiment ends. Staff from the ICO-IDIBGI Metabolism and Cancer group have been working with different cell lines to study senescence and the modulation of epigenic clocks in response to cosmic silence.
The Future of Astroparticle Physics in Europe: Presentation of the Mid-Term Update of the European Astroparticle Physics Strategy. The European Astroparticle Physics (APPEC) announces that the Mid-Term Update of the European Astroparticle Physics Strategy 2017-2026 has been successfully finalised and approved by the APPEC General Assembly.
The assembly of the NEXT-100 detector was completed on 22 November. Over the next few months, it will work at low pressure to test and calibrate the instrumentation. The objective of the NEXT experiment is the detection of the neutrinoless double beta decay in xenon gas, and the NEXT-100 detector aims to further validate the technology with 100 kg of xenon gas and improve the background model for the future phases of the experiment.
