After years without particle physics making the news, recent announcements suggest a breakthrough. Could a new fundamental force also explain the mystery of the three generations of matter? Harry Cliff weighs up the case.

Most of my colleagues would probably admit, at least in private, that it’s been an anxious time to be a particle physicist. Thirteen years ago, when the world’s largest (and most expensive) scientific instrument, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), fired up for the first time, hopes were high that we would soon discover new particles and forces that could help address some of the most profound mysteries in science.