Mysterious neutrino surplus hints at the existence of new particles
The MiniBooNE experiment found more interactions of the subatomic particles than expected
Pip-squeak particles called neutrinos are dishing out more than scientists had bargained for.
A particle detector has spotted a puzzling abundance of the lightweight subatomic particles and their antimatter partners, antineutrinos, physicists report May 30 at arXiv.org. The finding mirrors a neutrino excess found more than two decades ago. And that match has researchers wondering if a new type of particle called a sterile neutrino — one even more shadowy than the famously elusive ordinary neutrinos — might be at large.