Compact Muon Solenoid

Scientists working on CERN’s Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment have published the latest data in their search for a long-lived exotic particle known as the dark photon.Let’s Eat a Chocolate Xbox ControllerDark photons (also called hidden photons) differ from regular photons—particles of light—in that they are thought to have mass, making them a prime candidate to explain dark matter. Dark matter is the catchall term to describe seemingly invisible stuff in space that has only been observed via its gravitational…

The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector in a tunnel of the Large Hadron Collider.Photo: VALENTIN FLAURAUD/AFP (Getty Images)On July 4, 2012, scientists at CERN confirmed the observation of the Higgs boson, an elementary particle first proposed in the 1960s. The boson’s discovery was a momentous occasion, as it meant physicists were a step closer to probing the field associated with the boson, which gives particles mass.But since 2012, particle physics hasn’t had another seismic event. Important discoveries have been…