A new way to detect subatomic particles from deep space

In order to solve some of our universe’s biggest and most complex mysteries, we must first understand its tiniest and most elusive bits of matter. Steven Prohira, a postdoctoral researcher at Ohio State’s Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics, has spent the last four years hunting imperceptible interstellar particles, starting with his work as a physics graduate student at the University of Kansas.

“We have a model to explain them, but we don’t really understand them,” he said. “They’re just incredibly interesting, curious particles, and we want to know more about them.”