BRISTOL is spearheading a nationwide schools project to shed light on the origin of millions of cosmic rays that crash into the Earth's atmosphere from outer space.
Red Maids' School in Westbury-on-Trym is the first school in the South West to link up with the international HiSPARC science initiative, which is being rolled out across the UK by Bristol University.
Physics students will build two particle detectors for installation onto the roof of the school's sixth form building to help capture intricate data about the strength and direction of high-energy particles that invisibly shower down upon us every second.
Their results will be looked at by fellow researchers around the globe.
Zino Dif, head of physics at Red Maids', said: "Very little is understood about these cosmic rays. They could hold information that leads to exciting discoveries about our universe and human life just as research into the Higgs boson led to our understanding of the origin of mass."
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