Scientists have found an extra charming new subatomic particle that they hope will help further explain a key force that binds matter together.
Physicists at the Large Hadron Collider in Europe announced on Thursday the fleeting discovery of a long theorised but never-before-seen type of baryon.
Baryons are subatomic particles made of up quarks. The most common baryons include protons and neutrons. Quarks are even smaller particles that come in six types, two common types that are light and four heavier types.
Oxford physicist Guy Wilkinson, who is part of the experiment, says it's the first time scientists have seen a baryon with two heavy quarks, both the type called "charm." In the natural world, baryons have at most one heavy quark.
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