RADICAL (eBook)

CHAPTER 1

The year is 2020. The world’s experiencing a global pandemic. Despite the virility of the COVID-19 virus it infects less than 1% of the human population killing only 7 out of every 10,000. Is there any disease or disaster that could eliminate the entire human race? The answer is no. What you’re about to learn is that humans live eternally, just not the way you may have thought it was going to be or should be. Following is my story of life, science and the answer to the age old question “What happens after death?”

My name is Leinad Mosnar. Everyone calls me Nad. I’m a sixty one year old lifetime bachelor. What little hair I have left is white and I’m of average height with a thin build. I live in the Canadian Northern Ontario mining community of Greater Sudbury. I’m a science lab tech and member of the senior research team at SNOLAB. SNOLAB’s an underground science laboratory specializing in neutrino and dark matter physics. Located two kilometers below the surface in the Vale (formerly Inco) Creighton Mine SNOLAB’s an expansion of the existing facilities constructed for the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) solar neutrino experiment.

Born and raised in Sudbury I returned here in 2010, after living abroad for over twenty years, when I accepted my current position at SNOLAB. The city is much greener than it was when I was young. Heck they trained the Apollo astronauts here for the moon landing in the 1960s that’s how rocky and without vegetation the region was back then.

Mother Inco was the tongue and cheek name we called the company which owned the nickel mining operations in the Sudbury district. That operation is now owned by a Brazilian company named Vale.

I grew up in an area that’s known as the Levesque subdivision. It was a very typical 1960s neighborhood and a great place for a kid to grow up. We had an outdoor skating rink with clubhouse in the winter and it doubled as our baseball field in the summer. I lived only a mile from Moonlight Beach which can be found at the eastern end of Lake Ramsey which is centered within the city of Sudbury. My neighborhood was teaming with kids of all ages so there were plenty of group fishing and hiking trips. Although these days are long gone they fondly remain inside me.

When I graduated from Nickel District High School in 1977 I moved to southern Ontario to study theoretical physics at the University of Toronto earning my Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in Physics. I moved to a suburb of Toronto called Oakville and I worked for a company called AIT (Artificial Intelligence Today). It was the only job I held until my move to SNOLAB. My research at AIT was concentrated on the possible applications of subatomic particles for artificial intelligence neural networks.

I now live in the small community of Lively situated within the city of Greater Sudbury, were the SNOLAB facilities are located. I have a couple of acres with a tiny house and large barn and workshop. No neighbors, no pets and no room mates. Just the way I like it. My parents, now in their eighties, live in an old age complex one bedroom apartment just a couple of miles from my house. There’s not much in this town that has a population of just over 5,000. The usual grocery store, gas station, hotel, barber shop and hair salon all off the same strip. Sudbury’s city core is only a short drive away so anything you could think of buying is usually available there. Winters here are cold and snowy but not near as much as they used to be as global warming progresses. The other three seasons are very pleasant with warm summers and spectacular fall colour displays. The most notable landmark in sight is the massive 380 meters high Inco Superstack. The Superstack when completed in 1972 was the tallest freestanding chimney in the world until the construction of the chimney in Kazachstan in 1987. Unfortunately its time is done as Vale has announced it’ll be dismantling the stack this year.

I’m feeling a little like that Superstack lately. How much more time do I have? How much longer will I be able or willing to work? Important questions but I’ll have to wait for the answers. For these reasons I’ve decided to accelerate and intensify my research for proving the existence of a parallel universe. The work required I’ve determined will need to include but also extend beyond the research being done at SNOLAB. For the research to continue on a regular basis I believe I’ll need two things to start. One’s a home lab with concealed construction. The second will be an assistant, a side kick if you wish. The building of the lab at home should be fairly easy considering the size of the barn and workshop as well as having no prying neighbors in sight. The second’s a little tricky. Who can I trust with this no one can know venture?

A female is definitely out of the question. Remember I’m a confirmed bachelor and there’s reason for that. When it comes to relationships with women I never grew up. I had sex for the first time at nineteen; with a nineteen year old girl and it was great until she turned twenty. Then I moved on to another nineteen year old girlfriend and so on and so on. Yes by the time I reached forty it had become increasingly difficult to attract the interest of a teenager. But I digress. Where was I? Oh yes an assistant.

I thought long and hard, I needed someone who had a similar background and education. I needed someone who would follow my lead with no interest of being in charge. BINGO! Yorick Anand!

Yorick Anand is a pudgy, East Indian fellow who works as a junior lab technician with me at SNOLAB. He’s full of personality and interested in everything. Yo, that’s what I call him (also YoYo from time to time) tells me he’s named after the original Greek Yorick meaning earth mover and that his last name is quite common in his homeland and in Hindu means joy. Yo’s in his mid-thirties and also a bachelor although he arrived as one via the divorce route. He has a jovial disposition and is always eager to please. Yo’s an easy man to work with on a day to day basis. We’ve been working together for the last three years.

This is what a typical work day consists of in the life of Nad the neutrino physics scientist.

Woke up got out of bed

Had no reason to run the comb across my head

Smoked a joint and made my way to the car

5 minute drive I don’t go very far

Sorry I love the Beatles.

Once I arrive at SNOLAB I make my way to the Dry the name given to the shower and change room area. It gets pretty warm in the lab, sometimes above 30 degrees Celsius, so usually a t-shirt and a pair of shorts is all you’ll need to start with. Next I adorn my PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) such as mining coveralls, waterproof safety boots, a hard hat, safety glasses and a mining belt. Then I tag in as everyone else does so they know how many of us are down there at anytime. The last safety item I pick up is a battery operated light which I attach to my hard hat.

From here I head down to a staff room to wait for the arrival of the CAGE. This is the name given to the elevator that takes me for the 2km ride down into the earth. CAGE is an appropriate description for my ride which is a very tight squeeze and claustrophobic. I’m surrounded by nothing but dense rock on all four sides. Not to mention the incessant chatter between co-workers all the way down. Believe you me it’s not a feeling you become comfortable with easily. The best part is the ride is only a few minutes long. When exiting the CAGE I quickly notice the 25% to 30% increase in air pressure. Lots of lights and warning signs greet me as well. I then make my way down the DRIFT, which is the main area of the mine, another 2 kilometers.

At the end of my walk I come to the cleaning station. Due to the constant danger of contaminants entering the lab, in particular mining dust, everything I’m wearing is removed before I enter the shower. After I give myself a good cleaning I exit the shower in the opposite direction I entered where clean clothes and footwear are waiting for me. These items remain here where they’re washed and dried on location to prevent the introduction of outside contaminants. Finally I get my hair net on and hard hat. It’s beyond me why they make a guy with no hair on his head wear a hair net but they do. Last but not least I head to the lunch room to tag in once more. The lunch room’s also used as our Muster Point in case of an emergency. It’s been an hour since I left my house and I’m finally leaving the lunch room to start my work day.

I enter the lab where I’m always greeted with a hardy “Good morning Doc” by the young energetic Yo. We work in pairs at SNOLAB one being a senior tech the other a junior. Our current research is focused on neutrino detection, capture and utilization. Although detection has had its advances theoretical physics is in full bloom on these fronts.

A neutrino is a subatomic particle that’s very similar to an electron, but has no electrical charge and a very small mass. They are one of the most abundant particles in the universe. Because they have very little interaction with matter, however, they’re incredibly difficult to detect. Neutrinos are nearly massless, have no charge and only interact via the weak nuclear force. Neutrino actually means “little neutral one.” They can pass through massive objects without interacting with them.

Neutrinos could be used for faster global communication, to detect dark matter and communication with...