Saturday,  July 14, 2012 • Vol. 13--No. 001 • 21 of 33 •  Other Editions

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submerging it in liquid cooled to -100 degrees centigrade -- it should be shielded from pesky cosmic radiation that interferes with detection.
• "It was a bit of a nail-biter," Yale Physics Professor Dan McKinsey said of the detector's trip underground. "We always worry there might be something you didn't think of that could go wrong."
• The move was meticulous: First, the 6,000-pound experiment was taken from its temporary home in a surface-level lab and carefully inched toward a shaft previously used by miners. The ride down the shaft usually takes 15 minutes; for the detector, the trip was slowed to two hours.

• Wrapped in protective foam and plastic, it then was moved 500 feet to its final home on air bearings to protect it from even the slightest jiggle.
• Now that the LUX is in the Davis Cavern -- named after Nobel Prize winner Ray Davis -- it can be submerged in a water shield and connected to support systems that could begin collecting data as early as December.
• If that data uncovers dark matter as hoped, expect to see scientists pouring more champagne.
• "These are two huge mysteries that will have opened up in the last 30 years," Shutt said. "We're all going after the same thing: We're trying to figure out what are the basic components of the universe."

SD has first human West Nile virus case of season

• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- South Dakota has its first confirmed human case of West Nile virus this season.
• Health officials say the virus was detected in a Beadle County blood donor who was not ill. The person is between 20 and 29 years old.
• State Epidemiologist Lon Kightlinger urges South Dakota residents to protect themselves against the virus through such measures as limiting exposure to mosquitoes and using insect repellents.
• The peak West Nile virus period in South Dakota is July through early September. The state has had nearly 1,800 cases including 26 deaths in the past decade.

2 people plead guilty to stealing from SD tribe

• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- Two people have pleaded guilty to stealing from the Rosebud Sioux tribe in South Dakota.

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