CERN's LHCb finds 'CP violation' in baryons, explains how
CERN's LHCb experiment has, for the first time, found "CP violation" in baryons—the family of particles that includes protons and neutrons.
This means these particles and their opposites don't behave exactly the same way, which could help explain why our universe is made mostly of matter.
Beauty-lambda baryons behaved differently
By digging into data from 2009 to 2018, scientists saw beauty-lambda baryons decaying in a way that matches what physics predicts—a tiny difference (2.45%) between matter and antimatter versions.
It's not enough to solve the whole mystery yet, but it's the most precise measurement so far.
Why anything exists at all
This discovery opens up new ways to test how our universe works at its most basic level.
The team is planning major upgrades by 2030 to get even better data—so we're still chasing answers about why anything exists at all (and not just a big nothing).