What Are Neutrinos, and How Can We Measure Their Mass?

Trouble viewing? View in your browser. View all Scientific American publications.

    

June 16, 2022

Dear Reader, This week's top story covers the basics of neutrinos and some of the immense physics experiments that study them. Despite their evanescence, these ghostly particles may profoundly influence several large-scale features of the universe. Read the piece to learn more. Elsewhere, we have stories on the twilight years of NASA's Voyager spacecraft, a new "Swiss Army knife" satellite, nigh-impossible experiment with time crystals, the speculative physics that may underpin the mental state of "derealization" and more. Enjoy!

Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space & Physics @LeeBillings

Particle Physics What Are Neutrinos, and How Can We Measure Their Mass?  The weirdest subatomic particles require enormous equipment to study By Joanna Thompson

Space Exploration Record-Breaking Voyager Spacecraft Begin to Power Down The pioneering probes are still running after nearly 45 years in space, but they will soon lose some of their instruments By Tim Folger

Planetary Science New Satellite Is a 'Swiss Army Knife' in Space The hyperspectral probe can pick out extreme detail of materials on Earth's surface By Megan I. Gannon

Quantum Physics Physicists Link Two Time Crystals in Seemingly Impossible Experiment A new demonstration of these exotic constructs could help bridge classical and quantum physics By Paul Sutter,LiveScience

Particle Physics Poem: 'On Visible Light' Science in meter and verse By Donna Kane

Mental Health When Things Feel Unreal, Is That a Delusion or an Insight? The psychiatric syndrome called derealization raises profound moral and philosophical questions By John Horgan

Climate Change Climate Destroyers Go to Jail, Martian Travel Guide, Bee Interiority, and More Recommendations from the editors of Scientific American By Amy Brady

Climate Change Science Needs to Shrink Its Carbon Footprint Greenhouse gas emissions from research damage climate By Naomi Oreskes

FROM THE STORE Extraterrestrials and the Search for Life Do aliens exist? The enduring mystery of whether we're alone in the universe is a question that continues to drive scientific study into groundbreaking directions. This collection examines the latest thinking in the search for life, from discussing why we haven't found evidence of aliens so far to determining where and how to conduct the search to opening up the possibilities for what otherworldly life could truly look like.

QUOTE OF THE DAY "In your entire lifetime, if one neutrino interacts with you, then you're lucky." Sowjanya Gollapinni, particle physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory

FROM THE ARCHIVE Can Sterile Neutrinos Exist? Physicists have wondered if neutrino particles come in a mysterious fourth variety. Now new experimental findings complicate the question By Clara Moskowitz | November 2021

LATEST ISSUES

Questions?   Comments?

Download the Scientific American App

To view this email as a web page, go here. You received this email because you opted-in to receive email from Scientific American. To ensure delivery please add news@email.scientificamerican.com to your address book. Unsubscribe     Manage Email Preferences     Privacy Policy     Contact Us