ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Neutrino oscillations

Hi there, kiddo! Do you know what neutrinos are? They're teeny-tiny particles that are much smaller than an atom! They're often created in nuclear reactions, like the ones that happen in the sun.

Scientists have discovered something really interesting about neutrinos: they can change "flavors" as they travel! That means that a neutrino that starts out as one type can turn into another type as it moves through space.

This phenomenon is called "neutrino oscillations," and it happens because neutrinos have a really fun feature - they don't have a set mass! That's right, they can change their mass as they move through space, and that changes their flavor.

It's like if you were a strawberry at first, but as you moved through space, you turned into a blueberry, and then a raspberry! That's what happens to neutrinos!

This discovery was really exciting for scientists, because it told them something new about the neutrino and helped them learn more about how the universe works. And that's why neutrino oscillations are so cool, even if they can be a little hard to explain!