THE GHOST PARTICLE

Every time atomic nuclei come together (like in the sun) or break apart (like in a nuclear reactor), they produce neutrinos. Even a banana emits neutrinos; they come from the natural radioactivity of the potassium in the fruit.

Once produced, these ghostly particles almost never interact with other matter. Tens of trillions of neutrinos from the sun stream through your body every second, but you can’t feel them.

Theorists predicted the neutrino’s existence in 1930, but it took experimenters 26 years to discover the particle. Today, scientists are trying to determine the neutrino’s mass, how it interacts with matter, and whether the neutrino is its own antiparticle (a particle with the same mass but opposite electric or magnetic properties) or not.

Some scientists think neutrinos might be why all antimatter (the antiparticles of all matter) disappeared after the Big Bang, leaving us in a universe made of matter.

Info Source: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, DOE