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Next-Gen PUEO Detector to Probe Enigmatic Antarctic Radio Signals

A fresh review of ANITA data confirms steep-angle pulses piercing kilometers of rock defy neutrino explanations, prompting plans for the PUEO observatory to investigate their origin.

Overview

  • The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna recorded unexplained radio pulses about 40 km above Antarctica during flights in 2006 and 2014.
  • New findings published in Physical Review Letters highlight that the signals emerged at steep below-horizon angles that conventional physics models cannot accommodate.
  • Researchers have ruled out neutrinos as the source, since such particles would be absorbed or scattered by the intervening thousands of kilometers of rock.
  • Independent observatories including IceCube and the Pierre Auger Observatory have not detected any corresponding events that could clarify the phenomenon.
  • The Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) balloon array is under development to capture higher-precision measurements and uncover whether the anomalies signal new physics.