There are currently 4 forces of nature in the Standard Model of physics including gravity, electromagnetism and strong and weak nuclear interactions. However, experts have long theorized there is a fifth and this, asteroid Bennu, might just provide insights about that very force.
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00:00There are currently four forces of nature in the standard model of physics, including
00:08gravity, electromagnetism, and strong and weak nuclear interactions.
00:12However, experts have long theorized there is a fifth, and this, asteroid Bennu, might
00:17just provide insights about that very force.
00:20The novel force could travel on the backs of ultralight particles, which are a kind
00:23of dark matter, something else that has yet to be confirmed.
00:27Scientists say that finding an invisible force of nature like this one is a lot like
00:30a ball rolling down a hill without being touched.
00:32One can infer that it is moving along a decline, even if you can't tell it is with just
00:36your eyes.
00:37And that's what physicists are attempting to divine with long-term tracking of Bennu's
00:41orbit around the sun.
00:42That data is revealing that subtle effects of forces other than gravity, or the other
00:46forces of nature, are actually not at play, meaning that there could be a fifth force
00:50of nature, one which has not been detected before, but it is not having an effect on
00:54asteroid Bennu.
00:55In other words, they now have a new data point.
00:57The force can likely not be measured in objects of Bennu's size, or smaller.