There is a report about detection of the presence of sperm whales in the Mediterranean Sea. It was till now believed that sperm whales had disappeared (chased out) of the Mediterranean Sea.
Interesting reading on how they accidentally found it out - scientists were actually trying to monitor 'neutrinos' - a strange subatomic particle, electrically neutral and very very small (hence the name - meaning 'the little neutral' in Italian - coined by Enrico Fermi).
Since they (the neutrinos, not the sperm whales) have no mass, and no electrical charge, they do not interact with most matter. The chances of them interacting with other matter is 1 in 1 billion. One sure fire way of spotting them is to measure their interaction (in very few instances) with deuterium present in the normal water. And that's what the scientists were trying to do off Sicily.
Interesting reading on how they accidentally found it out - scientists were actually trying to monitor 'neutrinos' - a strange subatomic particle, electrically neutral and very very small (hence the name - meaning 'the little neutral' in Italian - coined by Enrico Fermi).
Since they (the neutrinos, not the sperm whales) have no mass, and no electrical charge, they do not interact with most matter. The chances of them interacting with other matter is 1 in 1 billion. One sure fire way of spotting them is to measure their interaction (in very few instances) with deuterium present in the normal water. And that's what the scientists were trying to do off Sicily.
- Read the report at: [http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/feb/18/conservation.endangeredspecies]
- Neutrinos are minute subatomic particles and the 'closest thing to nothing' that scientists can study. Billions pass through every human body every second.
- Sperm whales are the biggest toothed animal on the planet, up to 18 metres long and have the heaviest brains on earth. They weigh around 40 tonnes and any impact with a human body would be tricky to ignore.
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