News

A range of unusual factors makes calling the 2020 presidential election more dicey for broadcasters than normal, a Merrill College of Journalism expert says. (Illustration by Shutterstock)

This year, the US is experiencing one of the most anticipated and divisive elections in its history. Social media, with some 233 million users in the US and already a major communications platform, is believed to have taken on a heightened role of importance and ability to influence leading up to the election with people relying more on virtual communication during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scientists have known for decades of a massive imbalance between the amount of matter and antimatter in the universe. To resolve the discrepancy, they attempt to recreate the first instant after the Big Bang through fierce collisions of subatomic particles, followed by intense scrutiny of the resulting forces and pieces. A premiere effort is CERN’s LHCb experiment, in which B mesons’ disintegration provides clues that may someday explain why matter has predominated over antimatter.