Japan hollows out mountain to make world’s largest water bottle

JAPAN is hollowing out a mountain to create a huge water bottle that could solve the universe’s greatest riddle.

The massive cavern will be filled with a whopping 260 million liters of water and will cost a staggering £400 million to build.

Japan is hollowing out a mountain to create a huge water tank so scientists can monitor nuclear activityCredit: Kamioka Observatory, ICRR (Institute for Cosmic Ray Research), University of Tokyo

This image shows the completed crater of the tank called Hyper-KamiokandeCredit: Kamioka Observatory, ICRR (Institute for Cosmic Ray Research), University of Tokyo

It will contain 40,000 nuclear detectors (photo)Credit: University of Tokyo

The aim of the project is to detect small particles called neutrinos that are part of our universe.

Neutrinos are the smallest particles and even smaller than atoms, making them extremely difficult to spot.

They behave in strange ways, zooming through space and easily passing through planets without interacting with other matter.

Billions of them are moving through your body all the time, without having any effect on you, according to The B1M.

Scientists believe that if we can understand how this happens, it could dramatically change the way we think about the universe.

And so, in 2020, they started hollowing out Mount Nijuugoin Kamioka, Japan, and created the base of the research institute called “Hyper-Kamiokande”.

The experiment is led by the University of Tokyo and supported by researchers from 21 countries.

The observatory works using 40,000 photodetectors that line the inside of the cave.

These are so sensitive that a single lamp could easily detect the beam of a flashlight on the moon.

The detectors are also designed to withstand the enormous weight of 260,000 tons of water.

As neutrinos pass through the tank, they occasionally collide with electrons, creating a faint glow known as Cherenkov radiation.

Once installed, these photodetectors will act as a giant camera that records the faint trails of light given off by the radiation, and the observation can begin.

So far, all that exists of the structure is a giant concrete shell.

And it is over 80 meters high and almost 70 meters wide and big enough for an entire Boeing 747 turned upside down.

The dome was made to withstand the enormous weight of the rocks on the observatory, which is located 681 meters below the mountain peak.

The density of the rock is the equivalent of the observatory being 1.7 kilometers below the ocean surface.

The massive crater is accessed via a two-kilometre-long approach tunnel that, using a drill and blast method, took just nine months to complete.

This access tunnel leads to the center of what will become the roof of the observatory.

When the incredible structure is completed, it will be the largest neutrino observatory in the world – four and a half times larger than the world’s largest aquarium at Seaworld Abu Dhabi.

Japan is also home to another neutrino observatory called “Super-Kamiokande”, located near the city of Hida and commissioned in 2006.

Construction work is expected to be fully completed by 2026, and the Hyper-Kamiokande should begin detecting neutrinos and conducting other experiments by 2027.

Learning more about atoms is important because it has contributed to medical breakthroughs, including treatments for AIDS and countless other medications.

It has also led to a better understanding of fluid dynamics, which gives us more accurate weather forecasts.

The team has now started the next one phase of the project, shooting down through 71 meters of rock to create the enormous cavern that will house the observatory.