The Biggest Physics Moments of 2015

In 2015, physics is standing on a bridge between the old world and the new.
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LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 12: A visitor takes a phone photograph of a large back lit image of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the Science Museum's 'Collider' exhibition on November 12, 2013 in London, England. At the exhibition, which opens to the public on November 13, 2013 visitors will see a theatre, video and sound art installation and artefacts from the LHC, providing a behind-the-scenes look at the CERN particle physics laboratory in Geneva. It touches on the discovery of the Higgs boson, or God particle, the realisation of scientist Peter Higgs theory. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)Peter Macdiarmid

In 2015, physics is standing on a bridge between the old world and the new. The good ol’ Standard Model, a set of equations that explains much, but lucky for us not *all*, of the physical workings of the universe, has been proven correct again and again, to an astounding degree of accuracy.

Plenty of rumblings are afoot though, as physicists (and their groupies) stand salivating—eager, desperate, for beyond-the-Standard-Model explanations. What’s behind the dark matter holding galaxies together? The dark energy mysteriously accelerating universal expansion? Or the strange loss of all the antimatter following the Big Bang?

This year saw new and upgraded instruments come online. Scientists witnessed neutrinos changing their flavor, mid-dance. They kept their fingers crossed that Einstein’s predictions will, once again, be proven true. They cheered that SETI will continue to search for aliens. And they were excited to hear about new experiments, just floating into view.