In 2023, the ALICE experiment was ready for their best year yet, until a mysterious signal threatened everything. As the LHC wraps up its 2025 lead-ion run, physicists recall how they worked together to solve the puzzle.
Neutrinos zip straight through the Earth, while rarely leaving a trace. Yet these particles may hold answers to many of the key questions of 21st century particle physics.
Nicole Ackerman thought she would always be a particle physicist—until a newfound interest in biology drew her toward medical imaging. Her research on Cherenkov radiation, the blue glow from charged particles outracing light, could aid development of cancer treatments.
What beverage could capture the essence of a high-energy subatomic particle collision? It would require specific elements: rareness, a blend of flavors, a twist on technology.
Want to play with subatomic particles? You could go to work at Brookhaven National Laboratory's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, RHIC—or you could play a new card game.