Strange Radio Pulses Detected Coming From Ice in Antarctica

 

 Credit: Stephanie Wissel / Penn State. Creative Commons

Between 2016 and 2018, NASA’s ANITA experiment detected unusual radio pulses from beneath the Antarctic ice—signals that defied known particle physics. These pulses, instead of bouncing off the ice, appeared to originate from below the horizon, suggesting the possibility of unknown particles or interactions. A recent study led by Penn State researchers, using 15 years of data from the Pierre Auger Observatory, found no similar signals, indicating the anomalies likely weren’t caused by neutrinos.

Neutrinos are elusive, nearly massless particles that rarely interact with matter, making them difficult to detect. ANITA was designed to capture their rare interactions in ice, but the steep angles of the detected signals implied they had passed through thousands of kilometers of rock—an unlikely scenario. Researchers are now developing a more sensitive detector, PUEO, to investigate further. Stephanie Wissel believes the anomalies may stem from unknown radio propagation effects near ice, leaving the mystery unresolved..

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