Question: What particles do you look at, and what could they be used for in everyday life?

David Ho answered on 13 Nov 2018:

I look at a particle called a “magnetic monopole”. Every magnet we’ve ever observed has a north and a south pole that you can’t separate. But it’s been predicted that a particle called a “monopole”, which would just be a north or south pole on its own, could exist.

We think these were produced shortly after the Big Bang when the universe was very hot, so learning about these remnants would teach us more about the universe at these really hot, early times.

In everyday life we don’t see too many applications at the moment. But it is theoretically possible to make get a lot of energy using monopoles, because they are predicted to cause protons to decay — not just splitting an atom, but splitting the protons inside! In a thousand years maybe we’ll have monopole power plants and engines, but I think that’s a very long way off.