ANTARES currently the largest neutrino observatory in the northern hemisphere will be overtaken when KM3NeT claims the title,  some time in 2013. About 40 institutes or university groups from 10 European countries constitute  KM3NeT, with Cyprus (1), France( 6), Germany (2), Greece (5), Ireland (1), Italy (12), Netherlands (5), Romania (1), Spain (2) and UK ( 4).

Aberdeen scientists have already photographed for the first time fish and shrimps at Europe’s deepest point of some 5111 metres or 3.2 miles deep below the Mediterranean Sea surface and part of the research preparing to place the neutrino telescope in the deep Mediterranean to detect high energy neutrino flashes from distant objects such as gamma ray bursters, supernovae and colliding stars. 

The telescope will comprise a large array of sensors connected with a cable to computers on shore. (Left: Digital Optical Module) They will detect flashes of light produced in the deep sea by high energy neutrinos - tiny particles travelling at close to the speed of light - from distant objects in the Universe such as gamma ray bursters, supernovae and colliding stars.

Aberdeen University’s Oceanlab is part of a team studying deep sea life that might affect the working of the telescope, and is also interested in establishing mini observatories onto the telescope infrastructure to study marine life.

The cruise sent a bait attractive camera down into Oinousse Pit,  south west of the Greek coastal town of Pylos and Europe’s deepest Mediterranean point. Built to withstand 6,000m depths the camera had not then been tested.

Creator, Oceanlab research assistant, Thomas Linley said “It took over two hours for the camera to sink to the bottom  (right) and it was pretty nerve wracking as I had built the equipment at Oceanlab," Some 16 hours elapsed before the camera was back on board.

"Thankfully deep sea shrimp or Acanthephyra eximia arrived within the first few minutes and began to feed on the bait,” he said. “Three hours later a fish was caught on film - the Mediterranean rat-tail or Coryphaenoides mediterraneus. We didn’t know it went to these depths and this was the first time this fish have been photographed at these depths.”

In a different research field, experiments carried out on the Gemini laser in the Central Laser Facility at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory found Strathclyde University teamed with research by University of Glasgow and Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon reporting successfully on a new laser-plasma wakefield accelerator.

This uses high power lasers and ionised gas to accelerate charged particles to very high energies, shrinking a  conventional accelerator of 100m long, to one which fits in the palm of the hand (Left part of the accelerator).

Peak brilliance of the gamma rays was measured to be greater than 1023 photons per second, per square milliradian, per mm2, per 0.1% bandwidth.

Lead researcher, Professor Dino Jaroszynski of Strathclyde, said the breakthrough could make the probing of very dense matter easier and more extensive, and so allow monitoring nuclear fusion capsules imploding.

"We have imaged very thin wires - 25 microns thick - with gamma rays and produced very clear images using a new method called phase-contrast imaging. This allows very weakly absorbing material to be clearly imaged."

IceCube Neutrino Observatory ranks top
Currently the University of Wisconsin's IceCube Neutrino Observatory, (below right) completed last December, is the largest in the world, and will work together with the completed KM3NeT, to both effectively forming a global neutrino observatory with a view of the whole sky.

Most recent news from the Madison's IceCube Research Center Observatory was Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's unveiling an ice sculpture of explorer Amundsen, that was broadcast live in Norway.

A new opportunity afforded by KM3NeT will be the ability to look for high-energy neutrinos from the Galactic Center (barely visible to IceCube) where a supermassive black hole is thought to exist.

Scrutiny of neutrinos from the Galactic Center by KM3NeT may assist with the identification of dark matter, by looking for the neutrinos produced by neutralino annihilation.  Neutralinos being thought to accumulate in the centers of very large objects in space.

On the scale of human constructions, KM3NeT will be second only to the Great Wall of China but underwater and the neutrino observatory, will house equipment for monitoring the deep-sea environment, including recording of whale song and the observation of bioluminescent organisms, reports GizMag.

The consortium claims that KM3NeT, as it is known, will "open a new window on the Universe," as its "several" cubic kilometer observatory detects high-energy neutrinos from violent sources in outer space such as gamma-ray bursts, colliding stars and supernovae. 

Finance breakdown

The total investment budget comprises construction of the components of the Detection Unit Pre- Production Modules (DU-PPM) (€350,000), assembly and integration tooling and test setups (€100,000) and costs related to the connection of the DU-PPM to the infrastructure of the test site (€350,000).

The latter cost category includes transport, sea operations, on-deck deployment tools, recovery tools, interlink cable with adapter box to the infrastructure of the test site and the instrumentation in the shore station of the test site.

These costs amount to €800,000. With contingency and VAT the total estimated cost for the project is €1,000,000.