BEIJING (AP) -- China has chosen a remote site in Tibet for a new lab to look for one of the most powerful and mysterious forces in the universe -- cosmic rays.
The $13 million observatory will be the largest in the world to research the ultrahigh energy particles, the government-run Xinhua News Agency said Friday.
Construction will start next month at Yangbajain, 15,500 feet (4,700 meters) above sea level in uninhabited mountains in southern Tibet, Xinhua said.
The high, dry air should make for ideal conditions to observe cosmic rays, Xinhua said.
The particles leave faint fluorescent blue streaks that flash too quickly for the human eye as they slam into Earth's atmosphere from outer space.
Cosmic rays are actually atomic nuclei and, although smaller than an atom, tbey are the most energetic particles in the universe -- up to 100 million times stronger than the energy produced in the most powerful atom smasher.
No one knows where the rays come from, or why they're so strong. Some scientists believe they may be somehow hurled into outer space by black holes -- collapsing stars whose gravity is so powerful even light cannot escape.
Xinhua said the Italian government will contribute $9 million to its construction, with China covering the rest. The new facility will join a smaller observatory built at the same site with Japanese help in 1990.
Currently, the largest cosmic ray observatory is the $14 million Fly's Eye observatory in Utah.
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