LMR-044 · Matter
Neutrino
Right now, trillions are passing through your thumbnail.
§ A first look
§ Depths
Six ways into the same idea — from bedtime story to chalkboard. No order required.
L1 · Crayon
Told like a bedtime story.
For a curious 10-year-old. No jargon. Just a picture in your head.
Right now, while you read this, tiny invisible specks from the Sun are flying through your body. Not bouncing off you — through you. Through your skin, through the floor, through the entire planet Earth, and out the other side. You don't notice. They don't notice. Trillions of them pass through one thumbnail every second. They are called neutrinos, and they almost never bump into anything because they appear to find the rest of the universe insufficiently interesting. They are the universe's shyest particle. Physicists love them. They are very hard to invite to anything.
§ Strange but true
- 01100 trillion of them pass through your body every second. Right now. From the Sun.
- 02They almost never interact with anything. A neutrino can pass through a light-year of lead without slowing down.
- 03Catching even a few requires tanks of ultra-pure water buried a mile underground. Quiet, patient hunting.
§ From the field journal
Neutrino
"Right now, trillions are passing through your thumbnail."
— observed, sketched, not yet fully understood.
§ Nearby