DOM

Off to the Smithsonian: one of our optical sensors will go on display at the Smithsonian--but probably won't see the public until 2026. That's probably appropriate, nobody is going to see the bulk of the installed DOMs for millennia--when the glacier reaches the ocean.

The article does have a howler: "The sensors, about \$5,500 each, must weather the extreme cold and pressure of the frozen tundra." No, the South Pole is a glacier; no tundra anywhere nearby. Over a mile of ice, yes--that's a lot of pressure.

The next stage of research for IceCube is burying more sensors to increase tenfold the amount of space able to be detected, according to IceCube lead investigator Francis Halzen.

The project, which will begin sometime after 2022, is called Gentoo, a nod to a penguin species living on Antarctica.

“That’s as close as physicists get to a sense of humor,” Halzen joked.

In case you missed it, Generation-2 = Gen-2 = gentoo

BTW, the next stage isn't Gentoo, but an upgrade project that is a proof of principle--a few more strings with different types of sensors.
The schedule is going to be very tight. Some systems are supposed to be ready by next March, but funds to start ordering boards haven't been released by NSF yet. Some people are going to be very very busy in the next few weeks.