The first article from the collaboration of researchers involved in the heavy water bacteria experiment at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory (LSC) has recently been published. This publication presents the first identification of bacterial communities capable of evolving in an environment considered hostile for most organisms.

In April, we successfully completed the installation of the new Clean Room in Hall C of the underground facility. The design and construction were carried out entirely by our team, and the levels of airborne particles meet the ISO 7 standard, ensuring an ultra-clean and controlled environment. This room already houses one of the lowest-background Germanium detectors and is prepared for the installation of two additional detectors in the coming years.

Ali Dastgheibi-Fard, researcher at the Laboratory of Subatomic Physics & Cosmology, presented in his seminar a study on the mechanisms of radon implatation and its impact on detector components. He also discussed methods for measuring, preventing, and cleaning contaminated surfaces, with the goal of reducing background radiation in rare event experiments. This type of research is key to improving the sensitivity of detectors used in astroparticle physics.

At the LSC, we organize informal talks where our staff share the progress of their research, always accompanied by a coffee. On April 1st, our colleague Enrique Roig presented the latest advances from his PhD thesis on cellular aging, focused on the development of an epigenetic clock, a bioinformatics tool capable of predicting age based on methylation patterns. Bioinformatics is beginning to make its way into experiments at the LSC.

On March 26, the LSC held its Science Day for the second year in a row, welcoming students from the 2nd year of Bachillerato from schools in Jaca. Throughout the day, students took part in various workshops and learned about key techniques used at the LSC, such as copper electroforming and gamma spectroscopy. As in the previous edition, the day concluded with a visit to our underground facilities.