No, it’s not the Higgs-boson-it’s not even a boson-but a new particle has joined the ranks of electrons, protons, and tau-neutrinos of physics. Scientists at Fermilab made the discovery, finding a new subatomic particle that’s similar to a neutron, but heavier. Although it’s been predicted to exist, this is the first time the particle has been seen in reality.

The particle doesn’t have a sexy name like the established ones, merely called the Xi-sub-b. It’s brought into existence in a manner similar to other exotic particles-by using intense magnetic fields to accelerate other particles to near the speed of light and smashing them into each other. The Xi-sub-b lasts only for a fraction of a fraction of a second before it decays into lighter particles.

The Xi-sub-b is a baryon, meaning it’s made up of quarks, one of the fundamental building blocks of matter. Its components are an up quark, a down quark, and a ‘strange’ quark, which is a heavier variant of the down quark. A normal neutron, which doesn’t typically disintegrate in an instant, is made up of two down quarks and an up quark.

In addition to the new particle, scientists at Fermilab say they may be on the verge […]