Particle Physics News Explained for Pupils

Recent particle physics discoveries, accelerator results and matter-building-block stories explained for school physics.

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Particles archive

Week beginning 3 August 2026

Nuclear fusion in metal foils: why quantum tunnelling matters at low energies

Experiments with deuterium-loaded palladium and titanium foils found that fusion yields stopped falling as expected below about 2 keV. The result suggests that a solid material can change the environment in which nuclei tunnel and react, although the absolute fusion rate remains far too small for power generation.

Energy Particles Quantum Materials 11 min

Week beginning 20 July 2026

CERN sees a wake in quark-gluon plasma

CMS scientists at CERN have observed a diffusion wake left by fast quarks and gluons in quark-gluon plasma, giving physicists a new way to study matter that filled the Universe shortly after the Big Bang.

Particles Space Engineering 12 min

Week beginning 29 June 2026

Quantum computer simulates quark string breaking with 104 qubits

A 104-qubit IBM processor has reproduced string breaking in a simplified particle-physics model, showing how quantum hardware could eventually help physicists calculate the formation of hadrons after collisions.

Particles Quantum Engineering 11 min

Week beginning 22 June 2026

Superallowed alpha decay seen for the first time

Physicists have directly observed the extremely fast alpha decay of tellurium-104, giving pupils a clear example of nuclear decay, half-life and quantum tunnelling.

Particles Quantum 10 min

Week beginning 15 June 2026

CERN finds the missing member of a doubly charmed particle family

Physicists working with the LHCb experiment have observed a new particle made from two charm quarks and one strange quark.

Particles 8 min

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