back to article Baffled boffins 'closer' to finding origins of extragalactic COSMIC RAYS

Scientists at the South Pole have moved a step closer to figuring out the origin point of the cosmic rays which can damage electronics on Earth and zap astronauts in space. IceCube Lab by moonlight The origin of the high-energy particles has been baffling boffins for decades, but the latest study, which uses data from the …

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  1. wowfood

    The real question is

    Can we harvest these cosmic rays. And if hit by them will we gain superhuman powers like invisibility, or stretchyness.

    1. ukgnome
      Facepalm

      Re: The real question is

      Knowing my luck I'd end up turning into a rock

      1. Ian Michael Gumby
        Joke

        Re: The real question is

        "Knowing my luck I'd end up turning into a rock"

        We spoke with your wife and she's been praying for that every day... ;-)

        Sorry, I was going to go with "Thats what she said with a gleam in her eye." :-)

    2. Psyx
      Pint

      Re: The real question is

      You get hit by a few every day, and it hasn't worked yet!

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. James Hughes 1

        Re: The real question is

        I dunno, every few days, part of me turns in to a rock...

        1. Dick Emery

          Re: The real question is

          Knowing my luck. I would turn into Dwayne Johnson.

  2. Paul Kinsler

    ICE Cube - moon shadow

    http://icecube.wisc.edu/news/view/131

    1. Don Jefe
      Happy

      Re: ICE Cube - moon shadow

      Ice Cube home with interactive media and image galleries.

    2. RobHib

      @Paul Kinsler - Re: ICE Cube - moon shadow

      That's both graphic and impressive.

  3. Yet Another Commentard

    Never mind the physics

    That has to look like the most Gerry Anderson inspired building in the world. That counts for a lot.

    1. Robert Ramsay
      Coat

      Re: Never mind the physics

      It's got cute little green eyes!

    2. Graham Marsden
      Coat

      Re: Never mind the physics

      @YAC - I was just thinking that that building would make a great Secret Lair from where I could RULE THE WORLD!!!!!

      (Mines the white canvas one with the long sleeves and extra straps...)

      1. qwertyuiop

        Re: Never mind the physics

        Nah - it's too cold. All the water is frozen solid so where would you put the laser-toting sharks?

        1. Martin Budden Silver badge

          Re: Never mind the physics

          Nah - it's too cold. All the water is frozen solid so where would you put the laser-toting sharks?

          The sharks have frikkin' lasers, so they keep their own swimming pool melted.

      2. Mike Flex
        Alien

        Re: Never mind the physics

        " I was just thinking that that building would make a great Secret Lair from where I could RULE THE WORLD!!!!!"

        I'd be too worried that there was some AvP action about to break out in the basement. A mile down, after all.

        1. An0n C0w4rd

          Re: Never mind the physics

          It's mysteriously situated over the Ancient/Alteran outpost. They're trying to drill down to get to the weapons platform.

          (see Stargate SG-1)

    3. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: Never mind the physics

      "That has to look like the most Gerry Anderson inspired building in the world. That counts for a lot."

      It is rather dramatic, and quite lovely.

      As a GA plot I see some DIY nuclear reactor repair going horribly wrong with about 45mins to avert disaster.

  4. PaulyV

    Is that a real picture? Looks like something I would trudge up to in Goldeneye N64.

    1. Clinton
      Thumb Up

      See picture 14

      http://icecube.wisc.edu/gallery/view/227

      Impressive.

  5. Tom 7

    How many eV does it take

    to cook one strand of linguine?

    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge
      Coat

      Depends. Do you want it flash fried, or slow cooked ?

      1. Chris Miller

        According to Google:

        1eV = 1.60217657 × 10-19 joules

        So, quite a few. I've heard people who research these things claim that the highest energy cosmic ray particles have an energy roughly that of a tennis ball struck by a professional player. Which is pretty impressive, given that we're talking about a single hydrogen/helium nucleus.

        1. druck Silver badge

          Rather puts in perspective the energy of particles we can create with the LHC.

  6. JFS79

    data is a plural word

    Sorry to be picky, but i am on a bit of a crusade here. "Data" is a plural word and the press increasingly is treating it as singular. Please watch for that.

    1. BlueGreen

      Re: data is a plural word

      I guess "piss off, troll" is plural too, as one of you is too many.

      1. Captain DaFt

        Re: data is a plural word

        While tecnically he's correct, nobody uses the singular 'Datum' as it sounds so childish.

        "Datums wants a tummy rub?" See what I mean?

        1. BlueGreen

          Re: data is a plural word

          "Datums wants a tummy rub?"

          er... "Datums"? Pluralised singular? Cool!

          JFS79 has just internally ruptured.

          1. earl grey
            Happy

            Re: data is a plural word

            Please send new keyboard. thx

    2. Don Jefe

      Re: data is a plural word

      Moose is a plural word.

      1. Chris Miller

        Re: data is a plural word

        Surely the plural of moose is meese? Or should that be meeces??

        1. Don Jefe
          Happy

          Re: data is a plural word

          Meeces is the plural of mouse.

          1. Chris Miller
            Thumb Up

            Re: data is a plural word

            Ah, someone else remembers Mr Jinks.

            1. asdf
              Trollface

              Re: data is a plural word

              I do remember Captain Janks.

              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgkwYOzns_k

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: data is a plural word

            If unsure, there's always a way round as in this (possibly apocryphal) tale of a letter from one zookeeper to another:

            First draft - Please send me two mongooses.

            Second draft - Please send me two mongeese.

            Final draft - Please send me a mongoose. P.S. Make it two.

            1. pSy

              Re: data is a plural word

              Love the apocryphal reference but not sure it works with one or more data.

    3. Graham Dawson Silver badge
      Headmaster

      Re: data is a plural word

      A few things to bear in mind:

      Nowhere does the article refer to a single point, but always to a collective "data".

      In English, "data" is also used as a collective singular noun.

      In English, datum generally refers to an originating or prototypical example of a thing. See for example "datum line", generally shortened to "datum", being a guaranteed line from which measurements are taken or from which distance is calculated in a variety of fields.

      Datum might be the latin singular and data the plural, but we aren't speaking latin. My wife speaks classical latin and has taught it at a university level, yet she'd bop you over the head with her copy of The Golden Ass if you tried pulling that sort of pedantry on her. Attempting to shoehorn latin rules of grammar into English is the reason why we have to put up with complaints about split infinitives and the tortured house style of The Economist, that once rendered the unforgettable sentence "Yet even as big data are helping banks, they are also throwing up new competitors from outside the industry." Which is a complete and utter nonsense.

      And finally: language evolves. Words change meaning. Often they can change quite fundamentally and even transform into antonyms of their origin, as you might find if you look up the historical meanings of "nice", "artificial" and "awful".

      Data is the singular, plural and collective noun in English. That's not how it started, but that's what it is.

      1. Jtom

        Re: data is a plural word

        I find the origin of words to be quite entertaining. If I were to ever write a book on the subject, the title would be, "Where's the Corn in My Corned Beef?" (it would puzzle a yank. Not sure about a Brit.) The supposed origin of 'pumpernickel' is my favorite.

        1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

          Re: data is a plural word

          "Where's the Corn in My Corned Beef?" (it would puzzle a yank. Not sure about a Brit.)

          What would "puzzle a yank"? Many people over here eat corned beef, and a good number of us are aware of the phrase's etymology. (I think it was mentioned in the Straight Dope years back, for example, so at best it's moderately obscure.)

          That said, English etymology can indeed be an engaging subject. The kleptoleptic history of the language and its resulting irregularity often make it quite difficult even for the well-educated to guess a word's origin. (jejune is a good example - many people think it's derived from French, possibly from jeune or a cognate. It isn't.)

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: data is a plural word

      It's generally used as a mass noun like gravel.

      You wouldn't talk a single gravel, would you?

      1. Graham Dawson Silver badge

        Re: data is a plural word

        Of course you're correct. The singular has become "data point", or the phrase "a single piece of data". Rather like cake. Though of course that also comes in slices. But then, so does data.

        You see English is a very functional language. It has lost most of its inflection - not all, given we still pluralise and inflect for number, amongst other things - but certainly most, so of course when English adopts a word from an inflected language, such as Latin or Greek, it will tend to adopt a single form and discard the rest. Other forms of the noun might then turn up in other contexts, for related but distinct concepts.

        One of the reasons I personally tend to rail against attempts to enforce foreign grammatical rules on imported words is that it leads to hyper-correction. That is, the proscriptive applicatiopn of "the rules" to situations where they have no reason to be applied. Virus and Octopus both still have their pedants insisting that they pluralise as virii and octopi, when English orthography would render them as viruses and octopuses. Yet there is no attested plural of virus in Latin, and octopus is greek, and should pluralise as octopodes.

  7. SirDigalot

    I have changed my career aspirations

    I want to work in that building, it is awesome.

    There was only one Data, the others were B4 and Lore

    (i'll ignore the other old chick she doesn't count)

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