UNEXPECTED benefits from big science are always good news. This week, marine biologists say they have stumbled across a rich body of evidence that bioluminescence fills the water at unheard-of depths – all thanks to data from Antares, a giant underwater neutrino detector in the Mediterranean (see “Antares neutrino detector monitors deep ocean life”). Antares is designed to collect light emitted by neutrinos as they pass through water, so for the physicists running it, bioluminescence is noise that they used to discard. Now they have promised that they will hand over their junk for marine biologists to pore over.
This…
