[arethuza]

Although it is CERN that is getting most of the attention the lab receiving the neutrinos is pretty impressive - 1400m underground:

"three large experimental halls, each about 100 m long, 20 m wide and 18 m high and service tunnels, for a total volume of about 180,000 cubic metres"

http://www.lngs.infn.it/home.htm

[narag]

Is this needed? Or could the reception be done in the surface?

I mean, the interesting question is now: how much time will it take to repeat the experiment, either by others or by the CERN but with other reception point?

[sprovoost]

To put that in perspective: a 20 part per million difference in speed over 730 km distance is about 15 metres. So details about the detector are relevant, but they obviously know that.