Two teams, 9,650 km apart, in race to reveal the reason for the existence of the universe

Humans have long tried to figure out the reason for our existence. It is both a scientific and mystical question. The Big Bang has been the answer to the dilemma about how the universe came into being. However, we still don't know why the universe exists. Theoretically, we shouldn't be here since during the birth of the universe, two kinds of particles were created which should ideally cancel each other out - Matter, which is found in everything in equal amounts and antimatter.

Two teams of scientists are working to find the reason for the existence of the universe - the stars, the planets, asteroids and more. Both of them are building detectors that study a subatomic particle called a neutrino. The US-led international collaboration has built the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (Dune). The instruments to be used here are being deployed by 1,400 scientists from 35 countries.

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The structure is located 1,500 metres below the surface, with three vast underground caverns that are meant to cut off noise and radiation. A BBC report quotes Dr Jaret Heise as calling the giant caves "cathedrals to science". He has been involved in the construction of these caverns at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (Surf) for nearly ten years.

The puzzle of our existence

Scientists believe studying neutrinos and antineutrinos can solve the puzzle of our existence. They basically want to understand why matter and antimatter do not cancel each other out. For the experiment, neutrino and anti-neutrino beams will be fired from deep underground in Illinois to the detectors 1287 kilometres away in South Dakota.

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Both of them will undergo changes. What scientists want to know is whether those changes are different for the neutrinos and anti-neutrinos. If this is true, then it would be the first step to answering why matter and antimatter don't cancel each other out.

In Japan, scientists are putting together shining golden globes to build Hyper-K, a bigger and better version of their existing neutrino detector, Super-K. They will be firing their neutrino beams in less than three years, way before the American team. Whoever gets to the absolute truth first doesn't matter, as long as humans learn about the reason for their existence.