Find out the history of the Universe and unravel the composition of dark matter: megascience-class installations in Russia that are changing science

Megascience class facilities are powerful scientific complexes for fundamentally new research. The idea to create such appeared in the second half of the 20th century. The prefix “mega” is not accidental here: such projects are truly gigantic and are created with the funding and participation of specialists from different countries and branches of science. Megascience structures consist of many components: both physical objects, such as huge particle accelerators or telescopes, and ultra-modern information systems for data processing.

The task of the complexes is also outstanding: look in beyond the basics of science and answer fundamental questions. For example, to understand how the Universe appeared and whether there is life beyond the Earth. But they are useful not only from the point of view of scientific interest. Discoveries made through research are useful in medicine, computer technology and industry.

7 megascience installations in Russia

1. PIK Research Reactor

Project of this megascience class installation in Gatchina

appeared back in the 1970s, but started working only at the beginning of 2021. The delay was due to the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant: after it, similar complexes began to be retested for safety, and with the participation of an international panel of experts. The process dragged on until 1991, but a new difficulty arose there - the collapse of the USSR, due to which the project was completely frozen for a while. They returned to work in the 2000s.

PIK is a water-cooled neutron reactor. This is the name for devices in which ordinary water removes heat, and deuterium, also known as heavy water, slows down the nuclear reaction. The task of the installation is to generate neutrons. Now there are five research stations out of 25 running on it, so scientists are still just studying these particles. PIK should be fully operational by the end of 2024. Then experiments will be conducted there to study objects in the microworld, the behavior of particles and nuclear reactions, as well as to create new materials, including for biomedicine. Scientists suggestthat with the help of this megascience installation it will be possible to find a new approach to the treatment of cancer.

2. Collider NICA

Superconducting collider in Dubna was created for nuclear matter research. 19 countries participated in the work on it, and this year megascience should begin to operate in full force. With the help of such a setup, scientists want to understand how the Big Bang led to the formation of protons and neutrons. According to researchers, the collider will help recreate quark-gluon plasma - this is a special state of aggregation of matter in particle physics. It is believed that it was in it that the Universe resided in the first moments of its life.

Quark-gluon plasma will be reproduced due to the collision of beams of different particles, including heavy ions of low energies. To capture the results of these experiments in the accelerator posted two experimental setups: MPD and SPD.

3. Tokamak T‑15MD

A tokamak, also known as a toroidal chamber with magnetic coils, is a special type of reactor for creating thermonuclear fusion in hot plasma. The T‑15MD installation, in comparison with other megasciences, is quite compact. It is located in Moscow, at the Kurchatov Institute. This is a modernized version of the T-15 reactor, which have worked on the basis of the institution since the 1980s. It was launched in a new format in 2021, but will continue to be improved until 2024.

The reactions that will be created in T-15MD resemble processes in the cores of stars, accompanied by a huge release of energy. And here lies the main purpose of the tokamak. Scientists hope that experiments there will help humanity to find a new safe and practically inexhaustible source of electricity.

4. TAIGA Gamma-ray Observatory

This complex includes several atmospheric telescopes, more than a hundred wide-angle optical detectors and many more components. It all occupies an impressive territory - several square kilometers. Located observatory at the astrophysical site of Irkutsk State University in the Tunkin Valley: location perfect for observing celestial bodies because it is far from cities and rarely happens there Mainly cloudy.

TAIGA Control Center earned in 2021. The main task of this installation is to search for ultra-high-energy gamma ray radiation. Such reactions produce galaxy explosions or black hole mergers. Scientists need to capture gamma rays using sensors to understand the nature of the Universe. And also to learn more about the origin of extraterrestrial objects with the highest energy, such as supernovae and blazars - active galactic nuclei.

5. Baikal‑GVD (Baikal Deep-Sea Neutrino Telescope)

Another mega-science observatory. By the way, located it is not far from TAIGA - at the depths of Lake Baikal - and also began work in 2021. Scientists and engineers from 11 international research centers participated in its creation. Visually, the installation is not particularly similar to a classic telescope: it is a network of cables on which spherical glass detectors that catch neutrinos - this is the name given to particles without a charge with a tiny mass and a huge speed approaching the speed Sveta. They practically do not interact with other elements and fly everywhere. By the way, while you were reading the article, more than one hundred billion neutrinos flew next to you and even through you.

The value of these particles lies in their unique information. Scientists suggest that neutrinos will help learn about the processes occurring somewhere very far in the Universe, and also follow the evolution of entire galaxies and the formation of black holes of enormous mass - 10⁵–10¹¹ the masses of the Sun. And the Baikal telescope has already caught such particles. For example, in 2021, simultaneously with another similar megascience class installation - IceCube, which is located at the South Pole - recorded neutrinos from the core of a distant galaxy. This was the first time that neutrino telescopes in different parts of the planet detected a signal from the same source.

6. Synchrotron emitter "KISI-Kurchatov"

This mega-science class complex opened back in 1999. Already in the 21st century it was modernized: now the project includes as many as 16 stations, at each of which parallel research can be conducted. By the way, about 200 experiments are carried out annually at KISS-Kurchatov, on which about 60 groups of scientists, both domestic and foreign, work.

The main mechanism of this megascience complex is a source of synchrotron radiation. It helps to study in detail, down to the atomic scale, various materials and objects of both living and inanimate nature. Synchrotron radiation is used in various fields of science - from physics and medicine to archaeology. For example, with the help of KISI-Kurchatov, you can track the origin of ancient artifacts and check how anticancer drugs interact with the human cell membrane.

7. FORCE

This megascience is just being prepared. He will appear in the town of Protvina near Moscow and will include two components: a fourth-generation synchrotron radiation source and an X-ray free electron laser. Scientists suggest that this combination will help reveal how atoms, molecules, quarks and other particles came into being. This means understanding how the Universe was born and developed.

The main objective of the STRENGTH project is to obtain new knowledge and create new technologies based on it in various fields of science and technology, for example in medicine, materials science, agriculture, energy, IT. In total, on an area of ​​almost 190 thousand square kilometers will 52 experimental stations and a data processing center. About 200 scientific and educational organizations and 50 enterprises from real sectors of the economy - for example, mechanical engineering, metallurgical and chemical and biological - will be able to conduct research there.