Long thought to be a simple speck of negative charge, the humble electron may be hiding one more surprise in its depths.
The electron was the first fundamental particle discovered. It was the first to have its charge measured, and it inspired the mathematical equation that first hinted at the existence of antimatter, the exotic, oppositely charged counterpart to ordinary matter.
Now the electron is poised to go one step further, by helping scientists understand why matter triumphed over antimatter in the early universe. In theory, the Big Bang should have created matter and antimatter in equal amounts, but if so they would have annihilated each other and left nothing behind.
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