They’re calling it X17—and it would assist resolve a great thriller of nature. Scientists in Hungary say they’ve twice found the beforehand unknown particle whereas looking for proof of a “fifth power” guiding our seen universe, CNN stories. “X17 could possibly be a particle, which connects our seen world with the darkish matter,” says lead scientist Attila Krasznahorkay.
The crew first spotted proof of X17 three years in the past when observing electrons and positrons break off at sudden angles from a decaying isotope of beryllium. Now, with some calling that a lab error, the scientists introduced a similar find within the breakup of an excited helium atom. “This is able to be a no brainer Nobel Prize” if correct, says US physics professor Jonathan Feng. However, what does all of it imply?
Four identified forces are operating the seen universe—gravity, electromagnetism, and the robust and weak nuclear forces—however scientists have been searching for proof of a “fifth drive” to elucidate darkish matter, which invisibly makes up a lot of the universe, and fulfill Albert Einstein’s dream of constructing a “unified discipline concept” to clarify all existence.
Enter X17, whose uncommon mass (17 megaelectronvolts) and blink-of-an-eye lifespan (much less of a trillionth of a second) inform us it won’t be a particle carrying the four established forces, per Science Alert. Which leaves… what, precisely? Possibly a glimpse past the seen universe. And there is “no purpose of ceasing on the fifth” power, provides Feng. “There may very well be a sixth, seventh, and eighth pressure.”
