Is there a fifth force of nature? For almost 100 years scientists have suspected “ghost particles” are moving things in mysterious ways. Now we might be about to find them.
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Elusive ‘ghost’ in particle machine captured!
Is there a fifth force of nature? For almost 100 years scientists have suspected "ghost particles" are moving things in mysterious ways. Now we might be about to find them.
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What's happening?
Subatomic particlesThe minuscule pieces of matter that make up atoms. Scientists have discovered 36 so far. are the tiny pieces of matter that make up atomsThe smallest unit of any chemical element..
Ghost particles are believed to be special versions of these particles that behave like no other. They are not made up of ordinary matter and so they can pass through other things.
So how do you spot something that cannot be touched? Scientists think that in some rare cases, these ghost particles turn into ordinary particles.
To watch this, researchers at the European particle research centre CernThe European Organisation for Nuclear Research is the scientific body in charge of the Large Hadron Collider. will smash particles into a hard surface and see if the instrument can spot the ghosts as they turn into ordinary particles.
Finding ghost particles could get scientists closer to one of the biggest prizes in physics: the fifth force of nature.
Find out more
In our current understanding of physics, there are four forces of nature. They are gravityAn invisible force that pulls objects towards each other. Earth's gravity keeps us on the ground and makes things fall. It is less strong on Mars., electromagnetism, the strong force and the weak force.
The problem is that the universe is full of things that we cannot explain using just these four forces.
Is there a fifth force of nature?
Yes! We only know a very tiny amount about what goes on in the universe. There must be more that we do not understand yet. Otherwise we would already be able to explain everything!
No! The four forces we do know about might just work in ways we have not yet discovered.
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Keywords
Subatomic particles - The minuscule pieces of matter that make up atoms. Scientists have discovered 36 so far.
Atoms - The smallest unit of any chemical element.
CERN - The European Organisation for Nuclear Research is the scientific body in charge of the Large Hadron Collider.
Gravity - An invisible force that pulls objects towards each other. Earth's gravity keeps us on the ground and makes things fall. It is less strong on Mars.
Elusive ‘ghost’ in particle machine captured!
Secrets of the universe: “Normal” matter makes up just 5% of all that exists. Glossary
Subatomic particles - The minuscule pieces of matter that make up atoms. Scientists have discovered 36 so far.
Atoms - The smallest unit of any chemical element.
CERN - The European Organisation for Nuclear Research is the scientific body in charge of the Large Hadron Collider.
Gravity - An invisible force that pulls objects towards each other. Earth's gravity keeps us on the ground and makes things fall. It is less strong on Mars.