Physicists seek neutron lifetime’s secret New experiments aim to pin down subatomic particle’s decay rate By Emily Conover 9:34am, February 1, 2017 https://www.sciencenews.org/article/physicists-seek-neutron-lifetimes-secret WASHINGTON — Lone neutrons quickly decay, but scientists don’t agree on how long the particles stick around before their demise. New experiments could resolve the dispute — or deepen the mystery. Outside of a nucleus, neutrons survive only about 15 minutes on average. They quickly decay into a proton, an electron and an antineutrino. Two methods used for measuring the neutron lifetime disagree, leaving scientists uncertain about the subatomic particle’s true longevity (SN: 5/19/12, p. 20). TIME’S UP New experiments aim to resolve a puzzle about how long the neutron takes to decay. At the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Center for Neutron Research (shown), physicists will monitor a beam of neutrons to determine the neutron’s lifetime.