Scientists at Fermilab close in on fifth force of nature
Scientists at Fermilab close in on fifth force of nature
Physicists believe that an unknown force could be acting on sub-atomic particles known as muons.
Physicists believe that an unknown force could be acting on sub-atomic particles known as muons.
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Don't trust particle physicists! A lot junk science articles come from particle physicists specifically because it's a big part of their job to look for new particles and they get a lot of their funding from making bold claims like this. lol I'm mostly kidding, but always take into account what a person's motivation (monetary motivation specifically) before believing what they say.
I admit I'm taking your joke a little too seriously - Dr. Hossenfelder's misguided crusade against particle physics has made me sensitive to this - but this isn't so much a new particle as it is testing a prediction of quantum theory against experimental results and confirming 20 years of discrepancy. Amusingly, the reason they're getting excited now is because they're getting closer to refining the calculation to a 5σ difference from theory - in other words, they already knew it was potentially new physics, and this is trying to confirm it.
I recommend the PBS Space Time video if you want a thorough (if a bit technical) explanation, or Fermilab's which breaks it out a bit more simply.