crisscrossing Science Episode 033: Neutrinos, Tiny Terrors from the Sun

In this episode, Chris Gaiser (professor of biology at Linfield College) and Mike Crosser (professor of physics at Linfield College) discuss the solar neutrino problem. The sun produces a lot of subatomic particles called neutrinos. In fact, there are roughly 1016 neutrinos passing through the human body every second. However, these particles are difficult to measure, and for many years researchers were finding only a third of the expected number coming from the sun. If true, that would have meant that our understanding of the sun was completely wrong. The final answer was both surprising and revolutionary.