My aim is to develop a very low cost system for detecting Muons, that anyone can build. That being said there isn’t any real intention to do “Real Science” although I like the idea of many detectors linked over the internet in an array.

This project is more about interest, fun and the mystery that Cosmic Rays.

Sebs’ idea of producing music from the detections has real artistic merit which in its own way may inspire some young people to explore a career in real science.

The University of Washington has (or at least used to have) a project where they’d install muon detectors with data loggers at schools all over Washington state. They collected all the data and looked for coincident events to detect, count, and estimate the size of large (high energy) cosmic ray air showers, which gives information about the highest energy (and least understood) part of the cosmic ray spectrum. This was part of their particle astrophysics group, which was also involved in the Superkamiokande neutrino oscillation experiment, which needed good baseline data on high-energy cosmic ray events.

If I recall correctly, their detectors consisted of a photomultiplier tube inside a metal garbage can, which would have a much higher volume than a couple of flourescent tubes, and thus be more likely to see a muon from a given event.

But in any case, if you can get enough people to build and install them, log data from them, and collect that data, you can do Real Science[tm].

Very pleased people think this is a worthwhile project.

(I read moron at first too)

http://kosmophone.com/