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Standard Model
If there are three neutrino species, all with different masses, then how is energy conserved when they oscillate from one flavor to another?
The zero-point energy of empty space is not zero. Even with all the physics we know, we have no idea how to calculate what it ought to be.
If you're a massless particle, you must always move at light speed. If you have mass, you must go slower. So why aren't any neutrinos slow?
Protons and neutrons are held together by the strong force: with 3 colors and 3 anticolors. So why are there only 8 gluons, and not 9?
Recent measurements of subatomic particles don't match predictions stemming from the Standard Model.
There might be a hard limit to our knowledge of the Universe.
The difference between predictions and observations of the magnetic properties of muons suggests a mystery for the Standard Model.
Since dark matter eludes detection, the mission will target sources of light that are sensitive to it.
For years and over three separate experiments, "lepton universality" appeared to violate the Standard Model. LHCb at last proved otherwise.
Every proton contains three quarks: two up and one down. But charm quarks, heavier than the proton itself, have been found inside. How?
In 1974, Stephen Hawking showed that even black holes don't live forever, but emit radiation and eventually evaporate. Here's how.
Before we discovered gravitational waves, multi-messenger astronomy got its start with light and particles arriving from the same event.
From the tiniest subatomic scales to the grandest cosmic ones, solving any of these puzzles could unlock our understanding of the Universe.
At a fundamental level, only a few particles and forces govern all of reality. How do their combinations create human consciousness?
Magnetic monopoles began as a mere theoretical curiosity. They might hold the key to understanding so much more.
The anthropic principle has fascinating scientific uses, where the simple fact of our existence holds deep physical lessons. Don't abuse it!
In all the Universe, only a few particles are eternally stable. The photon, the quantum of light, has an infinite lifetime. Or does it?
Scientists have found three new examples of a very exotic form of matter made of quarks. They can yield insights into the early Universe.
The neutrino is the most ghostly, rarely-interacting particle in all the Standard Model. How well can we truly make "beams" out of them?
The way to understand the earliest moments of creation is to recreate those conditions and study them. Why would we stop now?
On July 4, we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the discovery of the Higgs boson, the missing piece of the Standard Model of particle physics.
Giant particle accelerators aren't a waste of money. They are essential for understanding the Universe.
The Standard Model of elementary particles has three nearly identical copies of particles: generations. And nobody knows why.
A next-generation LHC++ could cost $100 billion. Here's why such a machine could end up being a massive waste of money.
Over time, the Universe becomes less dominated by dark matter and more dominated by dark energy. Is one transforming into the other?
The Standard Model may or may not be in trouble, but particle physics definitely needs saving. Here's what the new LHC can do.
Our Universe requires dark matter in order to make sense of things, astrophysically. Could massive photons do the trick?
Fermilab's TeVatron just released the best mass measurement of the W-boson, ever. Here's what doesn't add up.
More than any other of Einstein's equations, E = mc² is the most recognizable to people. But what does it all mean?
If the electromagnetic and weak forces unify to make the electroweak force, maybe, at even higher energies, something even greater happens?