Chinese scientists are building a powerful telescope 3,500 meters underwater to detect neutrinos, one of the universe's most abundant subatomic particles, which may help unravel long-standing mysteries such as the origin of cosmic rays.

Neutrinos rarely interact with matter and can pass through dense celestial environments, unlike photons or electrons. This makes them excellent messengers carrying information about stars, black holes and even the universe itself, though they are extremely difficult to detect.

The underwater telescope, known as the Tropical Deep-sea Neutrino Telescope (TRIDENT), recently completed sea trials for its dedicated deployment device, designed to carry a specialized flexible subsurface buoy equipped with photoelectric detectors.

Following this round of validation, the first batch of detection buoys for the TRIDENT is expected to be installed next year.