Famously, neutrinos, the nearly massless particles that are a fundamental component of the universe, can zip through a million miles of lead without skipping a beat.
Now, in a critical measurement that may one day help predict new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics — the model that seeks to explain the fundamental forces of the universe — an international team of researchers with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory has shown how energized neutrinos can be stopped cold as they pass through the Earth.
The new measurement is reported today (Nov. 22, 2017) in the journal Natureby the IceCube Collaboration, an international consortium of scientists using the South Pole observatory to explore the neutrino and what it can tell us about matter and the nature of the universe.