"Neutrinos are SUPER weird," titles an explanatory video clip on YouTube about Neutrino oscillation (below) - meaning that these "ghost particles", billions of which are passing only our thumb nail each minute and which had been considered a massless mystery for a long time are even more outstanding in particle physics when observed closer: For neutrons do have mass, and that enables them to switch identities, found physics Nobel laureate Takaaki Kajita. 

In a zinc mine, 1,000 metres underground, Kajita traced the neutrinos in 50,000 tons of ultrapure water. Here, he analysed the particles caught in the tank – and found the ratio of the various kinds of neutrinos to diverge from calculations. His explanation: The muon neutrinos expected must have had turned into tau neutrinos that stayed invisible to the tank’s sensors; this transformation is known today as neutrino oscillation and only possible for particles that have a mass. The neutrino obviously having a mass, however small it is, queries the standard model of particle physics and opens up doors to find solutions for conflicts in physical theories. 

We are looking forward to an outstanding evening on an outstanding particle on Wednesday, 3rd July, when Takaaki Kajita will share his findings with the audience at the TU Dresden's Audimax at 7 pm. Any interested parties are warmly welcome. Please register at: tu-dresden.de/mn/nobel