WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Davis and Koshiba found that the number of neutrinos detected from the sun was smaller than expected. It was as if they vanished en route! Their experiments were optimised for the detection of one of the three possible kinds of neutrino. Could the spontaneous transformation of one neutrino type be responsible for their observations? These so-called neutrino oscillations are only possible if the neutrino has mass. If this were true it would change our view of the universe’s evolution. Research in progress…
X-ray astronomy is a young science; many new discoveries have been made with a new generation of X-ray telescopes (e.g. Chandra from NASA, XMM-Newton from ESA). A continued exploration of cosmic X-rays is necessary to extend our knowledge of collapsed massive objects, the origin and evolution of galaxies and galactic clusters, and dark matter. X-ray astronomy also offers promising possibilities to prove that black holes exist and to explore their nature. But this is another story and maybe even a new Nobel Prize in the future.
