China’s new deep-sea neutrino detector, Hailing, recently completed sea trials in November 2025. Nestled at 3,500 meters underwater, this innovative setup uses seawater as a natural shield, cutting out the cosmic “noise” that can drown out faint signals from ghostly neutrinos.
Neutrinos are tiny, neutral particles that rarely interact with matter. Born in exploding stars, black holes, and the moments after the Big Bang, they carry untapped messages from places even light can’t reach. By capturing their elusive weak interactions with atomic nuclei or electrons, scientists hope to map the universe’s most violent events and trace its earliest moments.
The Hailing project, whose name means “ocean bell,” employs a flexible buoy carrier bristling with photodetectors. During sea trials off the coast of the Chinese mainland, the specialized deployment system proved its agility and resilience in deep-sea currents. If all goes to plan, the first batch of detectors will be lowered into the abyss in mid-2026, and Hailing will start “listening” to the universe from the ocean floor.
Combined with the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), also in the Chinese mainland, these two detectors could transform our understanding of cosmic origins. Together, they form a powerful one-two punch: JUNO captures neutrinos in a massive underground pool of liquid scintillator, while Hailing tunes in from the silent depths of the sea. As these observatories come online, a new era of multi-messenger astronomy is on the horizon—one that promises fresh insights for scientists and curious minds around the world.
For young global citizens, tech enthusiasts, and changemakers, projects like Hailing are proof that the next big discoveries often lie in unexpected places—like the deepest corners of our oceans.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
