I applaud the effort to restore funding for Fermilab. The project to study neutrinos offers the potential for the discovery of fundamental physics principles which can only benefit humanity.

Neutrinos, those ephemeral particles that interact via the weak nuclear force and then very weakly with baryonic matter, have some peculiar properties that make them fascinating research objects for both theoretical and experimental high energy physicists.

Because, these particles which are always observed to travel at the speed of light, or just below the speed of light or C with an as yet un-measurable velocity difference, they offer insight into the transition boundary for particles that travel less than C and particles that travel at C. The possible discovery of any new physics in this, for lack of a better phrase, transition zone, may result from the break down of the physics defined by the basic special relativistic Lorenz transformation factor called gamma. Note that gamma = 1/{[ 1 - [(v/C) EXP 2]]EXP (1/2)} where v is the velocity of the object in question with respect to a stationary reference frame and C is the velocity of light.

Another peculiar property of neutrinos is that they have been experimentally determined to possess a tiny rest mass whereas according to the venerable Standard Model of Particles and Interactions, they should have zero rest mass and travel at exactly C. Thus the study of neutrinos can lead to the refinement of the standard model or to validation of newer models such as string theory, P-brane theory, M-theory and the like.

Even though the rest mass of neutrinos have been inferred to be roughly on the order of 1 eV/(C EXP 2) or less, they have been observed to possess energies at least as high as 1 TeV in cosmic rays or cosmic ray decay chains. Note that the rest mass of the electron is about 0.511 MeV/(C EXP 2) and thus the rest mass of the electron is at least roughly 1 million times greater than that of the neutrinos. Protons and Neutrons have a rest mass which is approximately 1,800 times greater yet thus placing the rest mass of the neutrinos obscurely small in comparison.

For those who are unfamiliar with neutrinos, they come in 3 varieties according to the standard model: The Electron Neutrino, the Muon Neutrino, and the Tau Neutrino as well as three antimatter counterparts for a total of 6 types of neutrinos.

The point to all of this is that the funding restored to the neutrino physics research at Fermilab is important. In fact, funding for any fundamental particle science, whether at Fermilab or elsewhere can only yield good dividends regarding our technological progress and understanding of fundamental science.