24 May 2018
Clarification 25 May 2018
Muons: the little-known particles helping to probe the impenetrable
Muon detectors are now small enough to take to field sites such at the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.Credit: Scan Pyramids Mission
The muon is going mainstream. The particle, a heavy version of the electron that rains down on every square centimetre of Earth, is little known outside particle physics — and last year it helped archaeologists to make a stunning discovery of a previously unknown chamber in Egypt’s Great Pyramid1.
Volcanologists and nuclear engineers are also finding new uses for the same technique, called muography, which harnesses muons to probe the innards of dense structures. The first companies are looking to cash in.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05254-2