what is it and how will it transform physics?

Key Points:

• Scientists at Cambridge have detected signals from the "zeptoverse," a scale 100 billion times smaller than an atom, using data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, potentially advancing understanding of the Universe's fundamental workings.
• The experiment observed beauty quarks, extremely short-lived subatomic particles, interacting at this tiny scale, which may be sensitive to dark matter influences, offering a new avenue to detect this elusive cosmic component.
• A planned £150m upgrade to the LHCb detector, agreed upon by 28 countries to increase data collection tenfold, faces uncertainty due to the UK Research and Innovation agency withdrawing funding amidst broader cuts to particle physics and astronomy projects.
• UK scientists risk losing full involvement in this cutting-edge research, potentially hindering major discoveries and impacting the training of early-career researchers, some of whom are considering relocating abroad for better opportunities.
• Despite a record overall increase in the UK science budget, experts like Prof Brian Cox warn that withdrawing support now could damage the UK's scientific leadership and international reputation in fundamental physics research.