Experimental neutrino detector. Researcher tests an experimental neutrino detector built by Joseph Weber in the 1980s. Weber believed that pure samples of crystals, such as sapphire, could be used to detect neutrinos. Since neutrinos have extremely high frequencies, and are able to travel through the Earth, he proposed they be used for long distance telecommunication. Neutrinos are fundamental particles that exist throughout the universe. They lack electric charge and have almost no mass. At present they can only be detected using detectors such as those at CERN in Switzerland or SLAC in the US. Photographed at the Pirelli Research Centre, Milan, Italy.