Threeway split makes the neutrino special

For high-energy physicists, the neutrino is one of the most fascinating subatomic particles. Its name is self-explanatory, to some extent: the particle is neutral and part of a "trinity" that consists of the electron, muon and tau neutrinos, which can transform themselves into each other under certain circumstances.

Neutrinos exist everywhere in the universe, and trillions fly through our bodies every second unnoticed, because they are so small and seldom interact with other matter. Even bananas constantly emit neutrinos, because of the potassium they contain.

The particle's existence was first hypothesized in 1930 by Wolfgang Pauli, an Austrian-born Swiss theoretical physicist. In 1933, the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi, who built the world's first nuclear reactor in the United States, called it the "neutrino" and predicted its different forms.