Researchers in US and Japan offer insight into ghostly neutrinos

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Neutrinos are tiny particles that can pass through everything, rarely interacting with matter. They are the universe’s most abundant particles, and trillions of them zip through our bodies every second without us noticing. Yet scientists are still struggling to understand them.

A new study that combines results from two major neutrino experiments in Japan and the United States is now offering some of the best information to date about these ghostly particles.

Neutrinos, forged in places like the sun’s core and exploding stars, come in three types, or “flavors,” and can change from one to another – called oscillation – as they travel. The new study is providing insight into the difference in mass between neutrino types, a key unanswered question.

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