By Jon Ellis, FOX 21 News

ASH RIVER, Minn. - A major science experiment that started several years ago in the Soudan Underground Mine is expanding north to Ash River near the Canadian border.

Physicists are studying tiny particles called neutrinos.  A huge facility at Fermilab in Illinois sends out a beam of neutrinos, and the Soudan Lab catches them -- a half-mile underground.

University of Minnesota Professor Marvin Marshak said at Ash River, they'll follow up on what they've learned at the Soudan lab.  "Those experiments have raised new questions about the properties of ... neutrinos and this lab at Ash River is going to try to answer them," he said.

There are several forms of neutrinos.  Scientists believe they may change between forms, a process is called "oscillation."  The northern Minnesota labs are trying to detect whether the neutrinos are oscillating.

"We're trying to understand the basic nature of forces and matter in the universe, and how much matter interacts with other matter, how it interacts with energy," Marshak explained. 

On Friday, leaders gathered at Ash River to break ground for the new lab.  U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-Illinois), a former Fermilab physicist elected to Congress last year, said, "Currently there's much to be learned about neutrinos, and this project has the potential to uncover information about the most basic scientific truths – truths that will provide us with insight on how the world around us works."

"We are here with a project that will help us peer into the origins," said U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minnesota).

University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks said, "This trench we're going to dig is also going to establish a foundation for the future of high–energy physics and science, not just here, but around the world."

So why locate such an important experiment in such a remote area?  Marshak said, "If you draw a line on a map and follow that beam, we want to be as far as possible from Fermilab but in the U.S. And here we are, this is the last road in the U.S."

There might be another benefit, too.  "Hopefully they'll not only find out new knowledge about the universe, but also enjoy our northern Minnesota way of life," Marshak said.

Heavy construction on the new Ash River lab will begin in about a month.  Marshak said they could be collecting data by 2012.

The project is a partnership of Fermilab, the University of Minnesota, and the federal Department of Energy.  About 30 other universities, including Harvard and Stanford, are participating.

For more information, visit http://www.soudan.umn.edu/.