Physics
Cosmic-Ray Muons Reveal a 1.3-Gigavolt Thunderstorm, Ten Times Any Direct Measurement
India's GRAPES-3 telescope recorded 487 storms in nine years. A new study explains why it sees far more of them to the east.
Topic
Cosmic rays
22 stories from Planck Standard. Latest: October 4, 2026.
PhysicsAstronomers Find the Milky Way's First 'Microblazar,' a Black Hole Jet Aimed Straight at Earth
IRAS 18293-0941 pairs a 10-solar-mass black hole with a hot star. Its jet slams into a gas cloud 100 light-years away, where particles may reach energies about 100 times the Large Hadron Collider's.
PhysicsThe LHC Smashed Oxygen Nuclei Into Protons to Recreate the First Instant of a Cosmic-Ray Air Shower
Cosmic-ray observatories in Utah and Argentina have to guess how the first collision in the upper atmosphere unfolds. For a few days in July 2025, CERN stopped guessing and photographed it.
PhysicsA Blurry Blob in Aquila Is Flinging Protons Past a Quadrillion Electron Volts
Astronomers have confirmed LHAASO J1912+1014u as a proton PeVatron, the kind of natural accelerator that has been hunted for decades as the source of the galaxy's highest-energy cosmic rays.
ScienceNASA's Juno Catches Particles Racing Near Light Speed at Jupiter, Cracking a Cosmic Ray Mystery
Electrons accelerated in the turbulent region ahead of Jupiter's bow shock offer the first direct evidence that the same process powering them also forges cosmic rays across the galaxy.
PhysicsScientists Solve Mystery of Ultra-High Energy Amaterasu Particle
New research suggests the most powerful cosmic rays may be ultraheavy atomic nuclei that retain energy better while traveling through space than previously thought.
- Physics
Scientists Solve Mystery of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays With Ultraheavy Particle Theory
New research suggests the mysterious Amaterasu particle and similar cosmic rays may be atomic nuclei heavier than iron that retain energy across vast distances.
- Physics
Scientists Discover Ultraheavy Cosmic Ray Particles May Solve Amaterasu Particle Mystery
New research suggests the most powerful cosmic rays could be atomic nuclei heavier than iron, potentially explaining how these extreme particles reach Earth with unprecedented energies.
- Physics
Scientists Think They Solved the Mystery of the Amaterasu Particle
New research suggests the most extreme cosmic rays could be ultraheavy atomic nuclei from distant explosions, not protons as previously thought.
PhysicsScientists May Have Found Source of Most Powerful Neutrino Ever Detected
Researchers point to blazars—supermassive black holes shooting plasma jets toward Earth—as likely origin of record-breaking 220 PeV particle.
- Physics
Scientists Trace Most Powerful Neutrino Ever Detected to Cosmic 'Blazar' Black Holes
Researchers believe the 220 PeV particle detected in Mediterranean Sea originated from supermassive black holes shooting jets directly toward Earth.
- Physics
Scientists Identify Blazars as Source of Universe's Most Powerful Neutrino Ever Detected
Researchers believe the record-breaking 220 PeV particle detected in the Mediterranean Sea originated from supermassive black holes shooting jets directly toward Earth.
- Physics
Scientists Track Source of Universe's Most Powerful Neutrino
Researchers identify blazars as likely culprits behind record-breaking cosmic particle detected in Mediterranean Sea.
- Physics
Scientists Identify Source of Most Powerful Cosmic Neutrino Ever Detected
Researchers trace mysterious 220 PeV particle that slammed through Mediterranean Sea to blazars—supermassive black holes shooting jets directly at Earth.
PhysicsScientists Crack 100-Year Mystery Behind Cosmic Ray Behavior
DAMPE space telescope reveals universal pattern governing mysterious high-energy particles from across the galaxy.
- Physics
Scientists Uncover Hidden Universal Rule Behind Cosmic Rays After 100-Year Mystery
DAMPE space telescope reveals that all cosmic ray particles follow the same fading pattern, potentially solving century-old puzzle about their origins.
- Physics
Scientists Finally Uncover Hidden Rule Behind Cosmic Rays After Century-Long Mystery
DAMPE space telescope reveals universal pattern in mysterious high-energy particles, offering new clues about their galactic origins and behavior.
- Physics
Scientists Uncover Universal Pattern in Cosmic Rays After Century-Long Mystery
Researchers using the DAMPE space telescope discovered that cosmic ray particles all fade away at the same point, revealing a hidden rule governing their behavior.
- Physics
After 100 Years, Scientists Finally Uncover Hidden Rule Behind Cosmic Rays
DAMPE space telescope reveals universal pattern governing mysterious ultra-powerful particles traveling across the galaxy.
- Physics
Scientists Finally Uncover 100-Year Mystery Behind Ultra-Powerful Cosmic Rays
DAMPE space telescope reveals universal pattern as particles fade at exact same point, suggesting hidden rule governing galactic behavior.
- Physics
Scientists Crack 100-Year Mystery of Cosmic Rays with Universal Pattern Discovery
Researchers using the DAMPE space telescope uncovered a hidden rule governing ultra-powerful particles that travel across the galaxy, potentially solving one of physics' longest-standing puzzles.
PhysicsRecord-Breaking Neutrino May Provide First Evidence of Exploding Primordial Black Hole
Scientists propose that an "impossible" particle detected in 2023 originated from a rare black hole explosion that could reveal new physics and dark matter secrets.