‘Ghost particle’ coming into focus: Scientists put upper limit on mass of neutrinos

Every second, about 100 trillion neutrinos pass through your body. These ghostly particles are fundamental to our understanding of the universe. But they’re extremely small — so small that scientists once thought they had no mass at all.  Neutrinos do indeed have mass, however, and physicists have now managed to put a new upper limit … Read more

A Creepy, Exceptionally Rare ‘Ghost Shark’ Chimaera Has Been Found in The Pacific

Researchers have discovered an exceptionally rare, newly hatched “ghost shark” near New Zealand’s South Island, according to the country’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).   Translucent, gelatinous and crowned with a pair of giant black eyes on its pointed head, the alien-like baby likely belongs to one of the more than 50 … Read more

Physicists Just Achieved a New Smallest Measurement of a Ghost Particle’s Mass

Decaying isotopes of hydrogen have just given us the smallest measurement yet of the mass of a neutrino. By measuring the energy distribution of electrons released during the beta decay of tritium, physicists have determined that the upper limit for the mass of the electron antineutrino is just 0.8 electronvolts. That’s 1.6 × 10–36 kilograms … Read more

‘Ghost’ viruses offer potentially better approach to gene editing | Science

Not every human disease can be tackled with a pill or shot. Some disorders would ideally be treated by delivering molecular payloads—like modified viruses carrying gene-editing tools—into defective cells, where they could rewrite target genes. Despite some early successes, researchers are still struggling to get this approach to work. Now, researchers say they have found … Read more

The eerie bioluminescence of the ghost fungus in all its glory

By Gege Li Juergen Freund/naturepl.com Photographer Jürgen Freund AgencyNaturepl.com THIS haunting shot of a bioluminescent fungus may seem otherworldly, but you can witness the astonishing sight in forests here on Earth. The photo was taken in the Atherton Tableland plateau in Queensland, Australia, by nature photographer Jürgen Freund. This species is probably Omphalotus nidiformis, otherwise … Read more

In a First, Physicists Glimpse a Quantum Ghost

The wave function—an abstract concept used to predict the behavior of quantum particles—is the bedrock on which physicists have built their understanding of quantum mechanics. But this bedrock itself is not something physicists have a perfect grasp of, literally or philosophically. A wave function is not something one can hold in their hand or put … Read more