Search Results for: Xenon

XENON1T observes one of the rarest events in the universe

XENON1T

The researchers working on the XENON1T project observed a strange phenomenon: the simultaneous capture of two electrons by the atomic nucleus of xenon. A phenomenon so rare that it earned the scientific collaboration, which includes the Subatech[1] laboratory, a spot on the cover of the prestigious journal Nature on 25 April 2019. It was both the longest and rarest phenomenon …

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Xenon instruments for long-term experiments

xenon, xenon1t, Dominique Thers, IMT Atlantique

From the ancient gnomon that measured the sun’s height, to the Compton gamma ray observatory, the microscope, and large-scale accelerators, scientific instruments are researchers’ allies, enabling them to make observations at the smallest and largest scales. Used for both basic and applied research, they help test hypotheses and push back the boundaries of human knowledge. At IMT Atlantique, researcher Dominique …

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Even without dark matter Xenon1T is a success

Dark Matter

Xenon1T is the largest detector of dark matter in the world. Unveiled in 2015, it searches for this invisible material — which is five times more abundant in the universe than ordinary matter — from the Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy, buried under a mountain. In May 2017, an international collaboration of 130 scientists published the first observations made by …

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XENON1T: a giant dark matter hunter

Dark matter, five to six times more abundant than ordinary matter, remains one of our universe’s greatest enigmas. Invisible and unobservable, it continues to challenge physicists around the world. With the aim of detecting and studying it, Dominique Thers and his team from Subatech joined the XENON project in 2009. On November 11, 2015, in the heart of the Gran …

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When engineering helps improve healthcare

healthcare

Editorial.   Tomorrow’s medicine will be at least 4P: personalized, preventive, predictive, participative. ‘At least,’ because some would readily add “precise,” “proof” (evidence-based), “pathway-based” etc. Beyond naming this type of medicine and determining the correct number of Ps, medicine is clearly undergoing a profound change. A transformation supported in part by engineering, which is bringing major innovations to the healthcare …

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Is dark matter the key to the medical scanner of the future?

Dominique Thers’ team at IMT Atlantique is working on XEMIS, a medical imaging device that uses liquid xenon.

A team of researchers at IMT Atlantique is developing a new type of medical scanner called XEMIS. To create the device, the team drew on their previous research in fundamental physics and the detection of dark matter, using liquid xenon technology. The first time the device was tested was using small animals. It allowed the scientists to significantly lower the …

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