The Zeptoverse: What Is It and How Will It Transform Physics?
Scientists have picked up signals from the smallest scale of nature ever explored – 100 billion times smaller than an atom.
TL;DR
- Scientists have detected signals from the zeptoverse, a scale 100 billion times smaller than an atom.
- The research was conducted at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at Cern.
- Detecting activity at this scale could help scientists detect dark matter.
- A planned £150m upgrade to the LHCb detector aims to increase the frequency of observed decays tenfold.
- UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has withdrawn funding for the upgrade, potentially jeopardizing the UK's full involvement and future discoveries.
- Leading scientists express concern that the cuts will damage the UK's international reputation and future research opportunities.