Researchers service the massive SuperKamiokande detector from inflatable boats. By Adrian ChoNeutrinos, nearly massless and barely detectable subatomic particles that pour out of stars and nuclear reactors, behave differently from their antimatter counterparts, antineutrinos, report physicists working with a giant particle detector in Japan.
The result is far from conclusive, but the asymmetry, known as charge-parity (CP) violation, could help explain how the newborn universe generated more matter than antimatter—and why stars, planets, and people exist today.
It should also encourage physicists who are planning even bigger neutrino experiments that aim to conclusively demonstrate the asymmetry and measure it exactly.“It’s exciting,” says