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KM3NeT Detects 220 PeV Neutrino, Sparks Astrophysical Debate

3/28/2026

Summary

Story summary

On February 13, 2023, the Kilometer Cube Neutrino Telescope (KM3NeT) detected a neutrino with 220 PeV energy beneath the Mediterranean Sea.
The neutrino is more than 100,000 times as energetic as particles produced in Earth colliders.
Astrophysicists speculate it may originate from an exploding primordial black hole, a scenario Stephen Hawking proposed, though KM3NeT cannot determine the origin, leaving room for alternatives such as dust-obscured quasars.

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Story summary

On February 13, 2023, the Kilometer Cube Neutrino Telescope (KM3NeT) detected a neutrino with 220 PeV energy beneath the Mediterranean Sea.
The neutrino is more than 100,000 times as energetic as particles produced in Earth colliders.
Astrophysicists speculate it may originate from an exploding primordial black hole, a scenario Stephen Hawking proposed, though KM3NeT cannot determine the origin, leaving room for alternatives such as dust-obscured quasars.