"Unveiling a New Proton Spectrum Kink: Insights into Cosmic Ray Origins"
The GRAPES-3 experiment in India has discovered a new feature in the cosmic-ray proton spectrum at about 166 tera-electron-volt (TeV), potentially reshaping our understanding of cosmic-ray sources, acceleration mechanisms, and their propagation within our galaxy. This finding challenges the previously accepted single power law description of the cosmic ray spectrum and was made possible by a combination of ground-based detectors with a large collection area, allowing for a more detailed examination of cosmic rays above 100 TeV.