21/11/05

Argentinean hunt for cosmic rays brings local benefits

Cattle surround one of the observatory's cosmic ray detectors Copyright: Pierre Auger Observatory

By: Cássio Leite Vieira

We encourage you to republish this article online and in print, it’s free under our creative commons attribution license, but please follow some simple guidelines:

You have to credit our authors.
You have to credit SciDev.Net — where possible include our logo with a link back to the original article.
You can simply run the first few lines of the article and then add: “Read the full article on SciDev.Net” containing a link back to the original article.
If you want to also take images published in this story you will need to confirm with the original source if you're licensed to use them.
The easiest way to get the article on your site is to embed the code below.

For more information view our media page and republishing guidelines.

The full article is available here as HTML.

Press Ctrl-C to copy

<div class="article-wrap">
<div id="article-introduction">
<h1>Argentinean hunt for cosmic rays brings local benefits</h1>
<h4>By: Cássio Leite Vieira</h4>
</div>
<br />
<br />

<div id="article-body">
<p><P>[MALARGÜE] The world’s largest ‘cosmic ray’ observatory, which opened officially this month in Argentina, is already bringing social and economic benefits to local communities.</P><br />
<P>The Pierre Auger Observatory is the result of a 15-nation collaboration whose facilities are spread across a vast area of Argentina.</P><br />
<P>Conceived in 1992 by James Cronin, winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize for physics, and Alan Watson of the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, the observatory will study cosmic rays — the Universe’s highest-energy particles.</P><br />
<P>The observatory’s first scientific results, announced at its inauguration on 10-12 November are, says Cronin, “very modest”, representing just three months of study.</P><br />
<P>However, some of the observatory’s other impacts can already be seen in Malargüe, the small town that hosts its headquarters.</P><br />
<P>Since construction began, the observatory has attracted tourists — now at least 5,000 visit each year. Local businesses increasingly need to deal with visitors who don’t speak Spanish, so the presence of the observatory was influential to the foundation of an English school in the town.</P><br />
<P>Malargüe’s mayor Raúl Rodríguez says that the international collaboration has also enabled the town to send three students to study engineering at the University of Michigan in the United States.</P><br />
<P>Rodríguez adds that Malargüe is considering starting up a university because so many scientists are living in or visiting the town.</P><br />
<P>Physicists and engineers from the observatory bring benefits to local industry by sharing their expertise. </P><br />
<P>“We taught manufacturers how to use complex equipment and how to improve their techniques and quality control so that they can make much better products”, says physicist Carlos Ourivio Escobar, the observatory’s coordinator in Brazil. Companies there supply key components of the observatory’s cosmic ray detectors.</P><br />
<P>Cosmic rays form when tiny particles from outer space — moving at close to the speed of light — collide with particles in the Earth’s atmosphere. </P>The Pierre Auger Observatory was named after a French physicist who lived from 1899 to 1993. <BR><BR></p>

</div>
<div class="quick-links-wrapper">
<h3>You might also like</h3>
[related-articles]
</div>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/news/argentinean-hunt-for-cosmic-rays-brings-local-bene/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(e,t,n,r,i,s,o){e["GoogleAnalyticsObject"]=i;e[i]=e[i]||function(){(e[i].q=e[i].q||[]).push(arguments)},e[i].l=1*new Date;s=t.createElement(n),o=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];s.async=1;s.src=r;o.parentNode.insertBefore(s,o)})(window,document,"script","//www.google-analytics.com/ga.js","ga");var _gaq=_gaq||[];var _gaq=_gaq||[];_gaq.push(["_setAccount","UA-3223906-8"],["_trackEvent","article interaction","republished","https://www.scidev.net/global/news/argentinean-hunt-for-cosmic-rays-brings-local-bene/",null,true])
</script>
</div>

[MALARGÜE] The world’s largest ‘cosmic ray’ observatory, which opened officially this month in Argentina, is already bringing social and economic benefits to local communities.

The Pierre Auger Observatory is the result of a 15-nation collaboration whose facilities are spread across a vast area of Argentina.

Conceived in 1992 by James Cronin, winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize for physics, and Alan Watson of the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, the observatory will study cosmic rays — the Universe’s highest-energy particles.

The observatory’s first scientific results, announced at its inauguration on 10-12 November are, says Cronin, “very modest”, representing just three months of study.

However, some of the observatory’s other impacts can already be seen in Malargüe, the small town that hosts its headquarters.

Since construction began, the observatory has attracted tourists — now at least 5,000 visit each year. Local businesses increasingly need to deal with visitors who don’t speak Spanish, so the presence of the observatory was influential to the foundation of an English school in the town.

Malargüe’s mayor Raúl Rodríguez says that the international collaboration has also enabled the town to send three students to study engineering at the University of Michigan in the United States.

Rodríguez adds that Malargüe is considering starting up a university because so many scientists are living in or visiting the town.

Physicists and engineers from the observatory bring benefits to local industry by sharing their expertise.

“We taught manufacturers how to use complex equipment and how to improve their techniques and quality control so that they can make much better products”, says physicist Carlos Ourivio Escobar, the observatory’s coordinator in Brazil. Companies there supply key components of the observatory’s cosmic ray detectors.

Cosmic rays form when tiny particles from outer space — moving at close to the speed of light — collide with particles in the Earth’s atmosphere.

The Pierre Auger Observatory was named after a French physicist who lived from 1899 to 1993.