EPISODE · Jun 28, 2025 · 46 MIN
The Case Of The MISSING Physics!
from What The If? · host Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia
What the if we could go back to 1930 and experience the reluctant discovery of an entirely new kind of particle? When electrons started bouncing off things with missing momentum, physicist Wolfgang Pauli faced a choice: abandon the fundamental law of conservation of energy or invent something completely invisible to save physics. His solution was the neutrino - a particle so tiny and elusive it took 40 years to actually detect one, but so essential that billions are zipping through your body right now. From billiard ball analogies with microscopic fleas to using these ghostly particles to peek inside the sun, discover how scientists sometimes have to imagine entire new pieces of the universe just to keep their theories from falling apart. Meanwhile, Antarctic balloons are detecting mysterious signals that might be doing the exact same thing all over again. Based on "Strange Signals Detected From Antarctic Ice Seem To Defy The Laws Of Physics" by Ashley Strickland, published on CNN.com https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/20/science/anomalous-signals-antarctica-neutrino-detectors
What this episode covers
What the if we could go back to 1930 and experience the reluctant discovery of an entirely new kind of particle? When electrons started bouncing off things with missing momentum, physicist Wolfgang Pauli faced a choice: abandon the fundamental law of conservation of energy or invent something completely invisible to save physics. His solution was the neutrino - a particle so tiny and elusive it took 40 years to actually detect one, but so essential that billions are zipping through your body right now. From billiard ball analogies with microscopic fleas to using these ghostly particles to peek inside the sun, discover how scientists sometimes have to imagine entire new pieces of the universe just to keep their theories from falling apart. Meanwhile, Antarctic balloons are detecting mysterious signals that might be doing the exact same thing all over again. Based on "Strange Signals Detected From Antarctic Ice Seem To Defy The Laws Of Physics" by Ashley Strickland, published on CNN.com https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/20/science/anomalous-signals-antarctica-neutrino-detectors
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The Case Of The MISSING Physics!
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