Muons are elementary particles similar to the electrons in our atoms. But they aren’t found inside atoms. They rain down on us like a cascade of particles from the sky, generated by the interaction of cosmic rays (such as high-energy protons) with our atmosphere. They are little-known particles, but they are abundant. They are nearly 200 times more massive than electrons. They exist for about a millionth of a second, but, thanks to Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity, they can travel great distances through space, as if defying time. They are particles that seem to be invisible, but we can see them by building the technology on Earth to do so. And this is precisely what the girls in Chile did during their winter break. Butwhy would the girls want to detect muons?
In 2022, we founded, together with Francisca Garay, the initiative Niñas Atómicas. This is a science workshop under the auspices of the SAPHIR Millennium Institute, where nearly 30 girls from various regions of Chile havethe opportunity each yearto experience the journey of science. We guide them along this path. We lead a team of young female scientists who serve as mentors to the girls for two weeks, accompanying them and documenting their progress and challenges in the workshop.
Our initiative, which concluded its fourth edition on July 3, 2025, begins with online theory classes on particle physics and electronics. The girls gain the foundational knowledge and inspiration needed to later build their own muon detectors. They spend two days at the teaching laboratories of the Institute of Physics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where we work together. After building their own muon detectors, they collect data under various conditions. We then teach them to analyze their data in hands-on programming classes. Throughout this process, we teach them theimportance of being able to formulate specific questions if one wishes to understand natural phenomena. With this, the girls conclude the workshop by reporting their research findings on a curiosity sparked by muons (such as, “Does the number of muons I detect change if I move the detector?”).
The above illustrates aprocess of scientific thinking. And this is what matters to us: that girls are exposed to this process from an early age and in a welcoming environment, so they can engage with it freely. And thus dare to ask questions. Thinking critically about something involves having doubts about that thing. For example, I might ask, “What are muons?” If I want to know what muons are, I proceed to develop a methodology to access this knowledge. This is called the “scientific method.” But it is not a recipe.It is a way of thinking that allows us to access knowledge about the world. A critical way of thinking that poses and generates questions, requiring arduous effort and commitment to answer them, and tremendous humility in facing various technical (and human) challenges surrounding the development of complex ideas and experiments.
And we know thatfacing this process has value in and of itself. And this value begins to build even earlier if they start asking questions as young girls. We are confident that this process will not only prepare them for an uncertain world—where knowing how to ask clear questions can even impact their own well-being—but will also give them the opportunity to acquirecross-cutting and everyday skills. They can wonder how the electronic devices they use every day work. They get a taste of the world of programming and begin to realize that they might be able to translate human ideas into a logical language that computers can interpret. They have the chance to learn these languages and, in doing so, the chance to keep up with the development of new technologies.
Finally, they are in a position to test their own predictions and draw their own conclusions. Sometimes they have to do this with incomplete information—for example, when they must make decisions about their data and finalize their research reports within a tight deadline, even if their experiment failed. This also happens frequently in our professional development. All of these things happen or are the result of following the path of science. There is aninnate resilience in the path of science.
We are confident, then—not blindly, but because we live and practice science—that our workshop will help you face the world with greater confidence and better-informed perspectives.And this preparation, these tools, these languages, these seeds, and these bridges are gifts from science. And since science is made by people, science needs girls. The world needs people who are better prepared and more informed to face challenges, sometimes unexpected ones. It needs new tools, new languages, new ideas, and new paths to push the boundaries of our knowledge. That way, we can live in a more conscious, more interesting, more humble, and more humane world.
