WHEN all else fails, invent a new particle - after all isn't that what physicists do best? If there's mysterious stuff lurking somewhere in outer space, you can be sure someone will dream up a new particle to fit the bill. So it is no surprise to see yet another made-up particle on the block. This time, it is the "sterile neutrino", a ghostly particle so slippery that it might never be detected on Earth.
Nonetheless, this elusive hypothetical particle is getting a surprisingly good reception. Most physicists seem rather keen on sterile neutrinos, which might just have played a cameo role in the universe's history billions of years ago. Equally, they could be centre-stage today, roaming space and healing all cosmology's woes.
For instance, sterile neutrinos might account for all the invisible dark matter in space. They could explain why stars lit up the young cosmos so quickly, and ...
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