CERN’s powerful new linear accelerator fires up ahead of LHC upgrade

After an almost two-year shutdown for repairs and upgrades, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is beginning to fire back up for its next phase of probing the mysteries of physics. Its newest particle accelerator, Linac 4, completed its first test run o… Continue reading CERN’s powerful new linear accelerator fires up ahead of LHC upgrade

Neutrino experiments find no sign of expected new subatomic particle

An extensive search for a hypothetical particle has turned up empty. The sterile neutrino is a proposed subatomic particle that could even be a candidate for the mysterious dark matter, and although previous studies have hinted at its existence, two ne… Continue reading Neutrino experiments find no sign of expected new subatomic particle

Dark matter: What is it, how do we know it’s there and will we find it?

It sounds like science fiction to say there’s invisible, undetectable stuff all around us, and it doesn’t help that it has the spooky name of dark matter. But there’s plenty of evidence that this material is very real. So what exactly is dark matter? H… Continue reading Dark matter: What is it, how do we know it’s there and will we find it?

Exciting signals from dark matter experiment could herald new physics

An experiment designed to hunt for ever elusive dark matter has returned some strange and exciting signals. The anomalies are probably not dark matter itself, but could be an indication that we’re on the right track to finding it. Out of the three poss… Continue reading Exciting signals from dark matter experiment could herald new physics

New explanation for Antarctic mystery doesn’t need “parallel universe”

Headlines all over the internet lately have been screaming about how scientists in Antarctica have discovered evidence of a parallel universe where time runs backwards. While we seriously wish that was true, a new study has put forward a more realistic… Continue reading New explanation for Antarctic mystery doesn’t need “parallel universe”

High-energy cosmic neutrinos traced back to their home quasars

There are billions of tiny particles called neutrinos streaming through your body right now. But where did they come from? Russian researchers have now traced back some ultra-high energy neutrinos to their points of origin – radio flares from raging qu… Continue reading High-energy cosmic neutrinos traced back to their home quasars

X-ray telescope searches for evidence of Theory of Everything

Finding a way to unify conflicting scientific models into a “Theory of Everything” is essentially a Holy Grail of physics. Now a NASA observatory has conducted one of the first experimental tests of these theories, scouring the sky for evidence of a hy… Continue reading X-ray telescope searches for evidence of Theory of Everything

Hypothetical particle explains three major mysteries of the universe

The Standard Model of particle physics does a decent enough job of explaining the universe, but it still has some holes in it. Now, a new study outlines how one hypothetical particle, the axion, may be the answer to three separate, massive mysteries of… Continue reading Hypothetical particle explains three major mysteries of the universe

New candidate particle for dark matter is one we’ve already found

Dark matter is believed to outnumber regular matter by a ratio of five-to-one, but so far it’s never been directly detected. Now, nuclear physicists at the University of York have proposed a new candidate particle that might make up the strange stuff –… Continue reading New candidate particle for dark matter is one we’ve already found

Did dark matter arise before the Big Bang?

Few things are as mysterious as dark matter, the strange substance that appears to outnumber ordinary matter by a ratio of five to one. Now, a physicist from Johns Hopkins University has outlined a new theory that helps to explain the stuff b… Continue reading Did dark matter arise before the Big Bang?