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IceCube detector finds neutrinos from the Milky Way for the first time

29 June 2023

A neutrino detector in Antarctica has found heaps of high-energy neutrinos coming from distant galaxies, but none from within our own – until now

HA6GE7 departmentofenergy 8056998030 The Daya Bay Antineutrino Detector

What was the universe's first second like? These particles can tell us

24 April 2023

If we could detect them, cosmic neutrinos would paint a picture of the universe in the instant after it began. Physicist Martin Bauer has come up with a plan to do just that

Antineutrinos collide with protons inside the detector which creates positrons that move through water followed by a blue glow.

Antimatter neutrinos detected from a nuclear reactor 240 km away

6 March 2023

A water-based detector has been used to spot antineutrinos from nuclear reactions hundreds of kilometres away. It could be used to monitor distant nuclear activities

Futuristic space particles in bright round energy structure. space orb VFX design element. Abstract colorful lights background animation energy ray of power electric magnetic.

The 50-year quest to find the particle that almost broke physics

6 January 2023

When physicists first discovered a form of a radioactivity called beta decay it seemed to violate the laws of physics. It took 50 years to work out what was going on

Front view of the IceCube Lab at twilight, with a starry sky showing a glimpse of the Milky Way overhead and sunlight lingering on the horizon.

Neutrinos have been spotted coming from a strange, shrouded galaxy

3 November 2022

Cosmic neutrinos are tough to track – it has only been done once before – but researchers from the IceCube observatory in Antarctica have tracked 79 of them back to their home galaxy

Neutron stars may fire out neutrino beams like a laser light show

26 October 2022

Neutron stars cool down by emitting neutrinos. A mathematical model now suggests the neutrinos come out in focused beams rather than a uniform emission

A tiny graphene device could detect neutrinos from the big bang

10 May 2022

Neutrinos from the early universe have never been detected directly but a device that uses the atom-thick material graphene might be able to change that

Bottom view of the LEGEND-200 liquid argon cryostat and the enclosing water tank. The inner walls of the water tank and the outer wall of the cryostat are covered with a wavelength-shifting mirror film. The purpose is to shift and reflect the light produced by muons via the Cherenkov effect in the water. The photons are detected by photosensors. The purpose of this detector component is to detect and identify cosmic ray muons, some of which still reach the experiment despite being located deep underground the Gran Sasso mountain. (fyi: The muon flux is reduced by a factor 106 (one million) by the rock). If not identified, the muon induced events could mimic the searched signal events.

This gleaming experiment may solve the cosmic mystery of antimatter

12 January 2022

The universe is filled with so much more matter than antimatter. The LEGEND experiment, photographed by Enrico Sacchetti, will soon start trying to unravel this conundrum

Sterile neutrinos could explain dark matter – if we can find them

10 November 2021

There are good reasons to think that neutrinos have a shy cousin that could explain dark matter, but searches have so far come up empty, writes Chanda Prescod-Weinstein