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A Decade-Long Particle Survey Could Shake Up Our Understanding of Cosmic Rays

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The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) particle physics detector on the International Space Station has observed billions of cosmic ray events from low Earth orbit.

It uses magnetic fields to separate particles from cosmic rays based on their electric charge before measuring the masses and energies of those particles.

Analyzing these particles separately is important because the behavior of a particle can give away as matter or antimatter.