ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Standard-Model Extension

The standard model is like a big puzzle the scientists made to explain how tiny particles in our universe work. Just like when we build a house with Lego blocks, scientists built the standard model with lots of different tiny pieces to explain how particles in the universe fit together.

Now imagine you've built your Lego house, and you want to change something. Maybe you want to add more rooms or make the house taller. This is kind of like what scientists do with the standard model. They want to make it better and match what they see in the universe more closely.

Sometimes, they think that the standard model is missing some pieces to explain certain things they've observed. This is where the standard-model extension comes in. Scientists try to put together new pieces of the puzzle to make it fit better with what they see in the universe.

So just like adding new Lego pieces to your house, scientists add new pieces to the standard model to help explain new science discoveries. The standard model is still very important, but scientists are working hard to make it even better!