righthanded

By U.S. Department of Energy June 22, 2023A spinning neutron disintegrates into a proton, electron, and antineutrino when a down quark in the neutron emits a W boson and converts into an up quark. The exchange of quanta of light (γ) among charged particles changes the strength of this transition. Credit: Image courtesy of Vincenzo Cirigliano, Institute for Nuclear TheoryNew Insights on the Interplay of Electromagnetism and the Weak Nuclear ForceNuclear theorists have discovered a major effect in neutron decay related to…

In 1848, French chemist Louis Pasteur discovered that some molecules essential for life exist in mirror image forms, much like our left and right hands. Today, we know biology chooses just one of these “chiral” forms: DNA, RNA, and their building blocks are all right-handed, whereas amino acids and proteins are all left-handed. Pasteur, who saw hints of this selectivity, or “homochirality,” thought magnetic fields might somehow explain it, but its origin has…