Mysterious Cosmic Rays

If you didn’t already know, high-energy cosmic rays (10^18 electronvolts) are hitting the earth constantly. The standard hypothesis was that dangerous gamma rays were responsible for accelerating the cosmic rays to such a high voltage.

Recent studies done at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica revealed that gamma rays are likely not the cause of cosmic rays.  Scientists at the IceCube observed 300 gamma ray bursts looking for neutrinos, which are supposed to be linked with cosmic ray generation, but they found none. With this possibility eliminated, the enigma of cosmic rays becomes even more elusive.

Of course, being scientists, the astrophysicists who performed this test are reticent to give up their theory completely. They plan on running several more tests with the IceCube detector before ruling out this prediction completely. After these final tests are completed, they will be forced to face the cosmic mystery, once again, with the imperfect, but defiant tools of modern science.