As part of the Conference on large research infrastructures organized to support the Italian candidacy to host the Einstein Telescope, INGV has promoted the Earth Telescope project for a “common home” of high-level Italian scientific research to discover the still unexplored mysteries of our Planet.
The works of the Su Gologone (NU) have been concluded Conference on Large Research Infrastructures. Synergies and Impact on Science and Society, an event of international importance promoted by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) in collaboration with theNational Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) in the context of Italian Presidency of the G7, in which theNational Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
The Conference represented an important opportunity to reflect on the contribution of large research infrastructures to scientific development and on their social, economic and geopolitical impact. Among the topics discussed, particular attention was paid to the candidacy of Sardinia as a host site for theEinstein Telescope (ET), the future European gravitational wave detector. Sos Enattos and the surrounding area could in fact become not only the main center of Italian research on gravitational waves with the ET project, but also a perfect place to welcome scientists and technologies dedicated to examining the still unexplored mysteries of the Earth's interior.
The proceedings were introduced by greetings and institutional interventions from Minister of University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini and President of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, Alessandra Todd, from the President of INFN, Anthony Clogs and President of the National Research Council (CNR), Maria Chiara Carrozza, from the representative of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Carthage Smith, and gods delegates of the G7 countries.
For ET, INGV plays a leading role in the geophysical characterisation of the site and, vice versa, Sardinia has represented a strong stimulus for the creation of the Earth Telescope Research Program, an ambitious and interdisciplinary project that aims to answer fundamental questions about the dynamics and structure of our planet, thanks to the development of new technologies and analysis methodologies that allow us to study geological phenomena on different space-time scales.
This program saw the launch of a call addressed to scientists from all over the world in September. The goal is a qualitative leap in the planning of geophysical research to answer the big open questions such as, for example, the role of the uppermost layer of the Earth's mantle, the asthenosphere, in the dynamics of tectonic plates and in the generation of magma or the role of the interactions of the deep structures of the mantle and the core with the hydrosphere and the atmosphere.
“With the transformation of the industrial warehouse that welcomed the G7 delegates into a modern building that will house research laboratories, with a meeting and dissemination center, Sos Enattos is preparing to soon become a first-rate scientific attraction center", points out Massimo Chiappini, Director of the Environment Department of INGV. “This centre, called SunLab, was strongly desired by the Sardinia Region and will be jointly managed by INFN, INAF and INGV, whose researchers, for the first time, will be able to work in a common location”.
The Earth Telescope project has aroused great interest among local administrators, media and researchers from various institutions present in Sardinia, reinforcing the vision of the Region as a scientific reference point not only for observations of deep space and the origin of the universe but also for the fundamental study of the interior of the Earth.
Useful links:
Photo 1 - From left: Massimo Chiappini, Director of the INGV Environment Department, Marco Olivieri, INGV seismologist, and Carlo Giunchi, INGV seismologist.
