Interactions.org - Particle Physics News and Resources

A new study using observations from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope reveals the first clear-cut evidence that the expanding debris of exploded stars produces some of the fastest-moving matter in the universe. This discovery is a major step toward meeting one of Fermi’s primary mission goals.

Cosmic rays are subatomic particles that move through space at nearly the speed of light. About 90 percent of them are protons, with the remainder consisting of electrons and atomic nuclei. In their journey across the galaxy, the electrically charged particles become deflected by magnetic fields. This scrambles their paths and makes it impossible to trace their origins directly.

View more at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3ue7cEocvI.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPWeJFs5xjc

Episode 5 of In Search of Giants: Dr Brian Cox takes us on a journey through the history of particle physics. In this episode we learn how particle physicists have developed a theory that can explain almost everything in the universe in terms of just 12 particles.

This film is part of a series originally broadcast on Teachers’ TV (http://www.teachers.tv/video/23645).