A brief review on geo-neutrinos

The detection of neutrinos from U, Th, and K decay in the Earth (geo-neutrinos) will help to fix the total amount of long-lived radioactive elements and thus the radiogenic contribution to the terrestrial heat. Moreover, it will provide a direct test of a fundamental paradigm about the origin, formation and structure of the Earth, i.e., the Bulk Silicate Earth model. Alternative or variant models of Earth (including the presence of potassium or the possibility of a giant reactor in the core) can also be checked. This short review presents the status and prospects in this exciting field of research.