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Article: Neutrinos may help solve mass mystery
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- June 16, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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In the time it takes to read this sentence, trillions of
subatomic particles called neutrinos will have shot through your
body.
Didn't notice?
That's because neutrinos rarely interact with matter. A
neutrino could shoot through a lead wall a million miles thick
without hitting anything.
But these ghostly little particles may provide a critical clue
to one of astronomy's biggest unsolved mysteries.
Astronomers estimate that less than 10 percent of the mass of
the universe is stuff they can see with telescopes, such as stars and
galaxies. No one knows where the remaining "dark matter" comes from,
but theorists believe neutrinos play an important role.
"One of the holy grails of ...