On February 17, 2016, IceCube detected the most significant multiplet since the start of the optical follow-up program: three neutrinos appearing within 100 seconds and consistent with a point source origin. This rare neutrino coincidence has allowed further testing of the capabilities of the IceCube follow-up program, which is able to trigger observations in near real time to search for transient sources. These results have been submitted today to the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. […]
The IceCube Collaboration has continued the hunt for sterile neutrinos with a search using lower energy atmospheric neutrinos. This new search looked into three years of IceCube data and again has not found any hint of a light sterile neutrino. These results have been submitted today to Physical Review D. […]
Shadows are getting longer as the first large group of summer workers heads out from the Pole. Soon enough the flights will end, leaving the winter crew alone for the dark months to come. […]
Winter is just around the corner, but the South Pole greenhouse doesn’t know about it. Fresh vegetables are growing in there. IceCube winterover Martin had some greenhouse training last week, and harvested a striking (but not very ripe looking) tomato. […]
Darren Grant, who leads the IceCube team at the University of Alberta, has been awarded the E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). […]
Doesn’t it sometimes seem that folks at the South Pole are always smiling? Well, for many, getting to spend time at the Pole—extremely cold temperatures notwithstanding—is the dream of a lifetime. Still, this group shot shows summer crew about to leave for warmer climes. Maybe that’s why they’re smiling. […]
The IceCube Collaboration has recently presented an update to the search for dark matter annihilation in the sun using the first three years of data with the completed detector. The search, which again did not find evidence of neutrinos originating from dark matter annihilations, has now improved these limits by a factor of 2 to 4. These are again the most stringent limits on the spin-dependent dark-matter–proton scattering for WIMP masses above 50 GeV. This study was submitted to the European Physical Journal C. […]
New measurements of neutrino oscillations, observed at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole, have shed light on outstanding questions regarding fundamental properties of neutrinos. These new measurements of neutrinos as they change from one type to another while they travel were presented at the American Physical Society Meeting in Washington. […]
Last week’s photos sum up the main activities for IceCube folks currently at the South Pole—snowmobiling, shoveling, and sunbathing. […]
Wait a minute—seals? penguins? at the South Pole? Well, you’re right to wonder, because the climate at the South Pole, in central Antarctica, is too harsh for survival even for animals adapted to lower temperatures. But winterovers deserve a break from Pole life when possible, and IceCube winterover Martin made it to McMurdo station last week for a few days of R&R, where he was able to capture penguins, seals, and a skua—all in the same shot. […]