Particles

Prof. Tracy Slatyer and Prof. Janet Conrad speak with Scientific American reporter Clara Moskowitz about their favorite discoveries in the field of physics. Slatyer notes that “the accelerating expansion of the universe has to be a strong contender.” For Conrad, “I think my favorite event in physics was the prediction of the existence of the neutrino [a subatomic particle with no charge and very little mass] because so much of our fundamental approach to physics today grew out of that moment.”

A team of researchers, including MIT physicists, has detected evidence of a new elementary particle called a “sterile” neutrino, writes Natalie Wolchover for The Washington Post. “The existence of a sterile neutrino would revolutionize physics from the smallest to the largest scales.” Wolchover explains.

Prof. Janet Conrad speaks with NPR's Joe Palca about her work detecting a new particle called the sterile neutrino. To find the particle, Conrad and her colleagues shot a beam of neutrinos into a container of mineral oil and identified an extra signal. Conrad explains, “to have an extra signal you need to somehow introduce an extra neutrino.”

Profs. David Kaiser and Peter Fisher discuss the 95 percent of the universe that is made up of “two mysterious ingredients,” dark matter and dark energy, on NOVA Wonder. “[W]e know that dark matter and dark energy are in the grips of this cosmic competition,” said Kasier, “and which side, so to speak, has been winning has itself changed over time.”

MIT researchers have developed a new detector that can identify individual neutrons, reports Brid-Aine Parnell for Forbes. “While being able to spot an electron with such a small detector is major step forward in itself, it also takes the team further down the road of being able to measure the mass of a neutrino,” Parnell writes. 

UPI reporter Brooks Hays writes that a team of MIT researchers has developed a tabletop device that can detect electrons and could potentially be used discover the mass of neutrinos. “Researchers recently used the device to observe the behavior of more than 100,000 electrons from decaying krypton gas,” Hays writes. 

Kathryn Jepsen of Symmetry writes that new results from the AMS experiment, an international collaboration led by MIT Prof. Samuel Ting, indicate the detection of dark matter may be within reach. “It’s really profound to me, the fact that we’re getting this fundamental data,” said NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan. “Once we understand it, it could change how we see the universe.”

Scientists behind the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment are reporting new data that point toward the potential detection of dark matter particles, according to NBC News. MIT physicist Samuel Ting, AMS's principal investigator, explains: “This is the first experimental observation of the positron fraction maximum after half a century of cosmic rays experiments."