neutrino

Physicists get closer than ever to measuring the elusive neutrino

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Ghost-like particles called neutrinos hardly ever interact with normal matter, giving the teensy apparitions supreme hiding powers. They are so elusive that, in the decades since their initial discovery, physicists still haven’t pinned down their mass. But recently, by plopping them onto a 200-ton “neutrino scale,” scientists have put a new limit on the neutrino’s mass. The … Read more

How Light Is a Neutrino? The Answer Is Closer Than Ever

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Physicists have taken a step towards nailing down the mass of the neutrino, perhaps the most mysterious of all elementary particles. The team at the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment in Germany reports that neutrinos have a maximum mass of 0.8 electron volts. Researchers have long had indirect evidence that the particles should be lighter … Read more

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

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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

Astronomers propose building a neutrino telescope — out of the Pacific Ocean

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Paul M. Sutter is an astrophysicist at SUNY Stony Brook and the Flatiron Institute, host of “Ask a Spaceman” and “Space Radio,” and author of “How to Die in Space.” Sutter contributed this article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Neutrinos are one of the most elusive particles in the cosmos, second only to … Read more