Researchers designed an app that can turn any smartphone into a cosmic ray detector.
For years researchers have been trying to determine the source of ultra-high-energy particles from space that hurtle towards Earth and hit its atmosphere, UC Irvine reported. These cosmic rays are extremely rare, making their origin difficult to pinpoint.
"Whole square kilometers can be drenched in these particles for a few milliseconds," said UC Irvine physicist Daniel Whiteson. "The mystery is nobody knows where these crazy, high-energy particles are coming from or what's making them so energetic. But they can be captured by technology in smartphones' cameras."
The new app, dubbed CRAYFIS (Cosmic Rays Found in Smartphones), could collect data on this phenomenon when the device is hooked up to a power source and has not been used for several minutes. Since the particles hit the Earth for such as short period of time, this "global network" of detectors could help scientists gain significant insight into the phenomenon.
Anyone with an Android or iOS smartphone or tablet will be able to participate in the project, and if an individual's data is used in scientific paper they will be offered authorship.
The app is possible because smartphone cameras use the same silicon-based sensors as detectors at CERN, which houses the famous Large Hadron Collider.
The data from this app could also be used to calculate local radiation levels and function as an alarm system if there is a hazard. This project is the first to demonstrate that if enough devices are on the hunt for these particles, the network could rival even the most advanced cosmic ray experiment sites, such as the Auger Experiment in South America.
The app is ready to go, the developers are now working identify which servers will be capable of handling a large number of users.
The development team was also led by UC Davis physicist Michael Mulhearn and the paper was posted on the physics website arXiv.
