(from our correspondent Domenico
Palesse).
Tradition and innovation, but also, and above all, research.
On its world tour, the Amerigo Vespucci also becomes a gigantic
mobile laboratory, one of the few capable of collecting constant
data and information crossing every corner of the globe.
For this reason, for twenty days a device from the National
Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) for the detection of cosmic
rays has been installed on board.
The 'running in' was completed by the researcher of the
Institute Davide Serini, embarked on the sailing ship from
Darwin to Singapore.
Over two thousand miles of navigation were useful for studying
and collecting data for an unprecedented piece of research that
could have historical implications.
"We installed this object that measures cosmic rays, the
particles that come from space and that allow us to understand
the mysteries of the universe," says Serini, who also kept a
logbook on social media during the trip.
"The usefulness of installing it on the ship comes from the fact
that these particles are influenced by the Earth's magnetic
field, by latitude and longitude, that is, by the position of
the ship".
The detector will remain on board until the end of the
Vespucci's world tour, when it will reach the port of Genoa in
June 2025.
"The device will continue to collect data 24 hours a day,"
explains Mario Nicola Mazziotta, also a researcher at the INFN.
"As soon as we have access to the internet from the ship, they
will then be transferred to our servers to study and analyze
them".
"Being on board the Vespucci is a truly unique opportunity,"
continues Mazziotta, "because the ship during its route will
intercept very particular areas to study cosmic rays.
"It is a unique opportunity that is also giving us satisfaction.
"From Darwin to Singapore, for example, we have observed the
effect of the sun on cosmic rays, which has given us unexpected
and unprecedented results for the first time".
After the first month of navigation, therefore, the detector -
built by the Bari section of the INFN - will remain on board
without assistance, continuing to send data to land that will
allow researchers to carry out a complex study with potential
"historic results". This is all in the tradition of the Vespucci
being at the service of research innovation, this time for an
encounter that is, one might say, "space-like".
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