Everything in the universe is, quite literally, built upon particles, ranging from the fundamental particles that construct atoms that make up everything we see around us to the exotic ones that give rise to elusive phenomena like antimatter and dark matter. The former help us observe and manipulate our world while the latter help us understand it, hinting at profound mysteries surrounding the universe’s creation, evolution and structure.

When it comes to particle physics, however, much of the action takes place in giant accelerators smashing particles together at the speed of light. These accelerators are sometimes humanmade and therefore live on Earth — other times, they're of the cosmic sort and exist in deep space.

Indeed, over the past 12 months there has been a great deal of exciting particle action on Earth and in space — and we begin our round-up of 2024's particle physics stories with news that sounds more like science fiction.