Why South Korea is the world's biggest investor in research
M Zastrow - Nature, 2016 - go.gale.com
M Zastrow
Nature, 2016•go.gale.comBehind the doors of a drab brick building in Daejeon, South Korea, a major experiment is
slowly taking shape. Much of the first-floor lab space is under construction, and one glass
door, taped shut, leads directly to a pit in the ground. But at the end of the hall, in a pristine
lab, sits a gleaming cylindrical apparatus of copper and gold. It's a prototype of a device that
might one day answer a major mystery about the Universe by detecting a particle called the
axion-a possible component of dark matter.If it succeeds, this apparatus has the potential to …
slowly taking shape. Much of the first-floor lab space is under construction, and one glass
door, taped shut, leads directly to a pit in the ground. But at the end of the hall, in a pristine
lab, sits a gleaming cylindrical apparatus of copper and gold. It's a prototype of a device that
might one day answer a major mystery about the Universe by detecting a particle called the
axion-a possible component of dark matter.If it succeeds, this apparatus has the potential to …
Behind the doors of a drab brick building in Daejeon, South Korea, a major experiment is slowly taking shape. Much of the first-floor lab space is under construction, and one glass door, taped shut, leads directly to a pit in the ground. But at the end of the hall, in a pristine lab, sits a gleaming cylindrical apparatus of copper and gold. It's a prototype of a device that might one day answer a major mystery about the Universe by detecting a particle called the axion-a possible component of dark matter.
If it succeeds, this apparatus has the potential to rewrite physics and win its designers a Nobel prize." It will transform Korea, there's no question about it," says physicist Yannis Semertzidis, who leads the US $7.6-million-per-year centre at South Korea's premier technical university, KAIST. But there's a catch: no one knows whether axions even exist. It's the kind of high-risk, high-reward project that symbolizes the country's ambition to become a world leader in basic research.
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