Laboratory at bottom of Mediterranean for probing sea and sky

LSPM connexion © Damien Dornic, CPPM, CNRS / PHOTOTHEQUE IN2P3 The base hosts a neutrino detector, for investigating these elementary particles whose properties are still shrouded in mystery. The CNRS Laboratoire Sous-marin Provence Méditerranée, co-directed with Aix-Marseille University and IFREMER, is a pioneering new research platform. At >2 km under the sea surface, it houses instrumentation for studying the seabed; climate change; and the physics of neutrinos, elementary particles from space. The base, which is linked to the surface by cables, has just been inaugurated (24 February 2023). The Laboratoire Sous-marin Provence Méditerranée (LSPM) lies 40 km off the coast of Toulon, at a depth of 2,450 m, inaccessible even to sunlight. Through this national research platform run by the CNRS in collaboration with Aix-Marseille University (AMU) and IFREMER, scientists will investigate undersea unknowns while scanning the skies for neutrinos. These elementary particles of extraterrestrial origin know few obstacles and can even traverse our planet without bumping into a single atom.