Scientists in Hungary are on the verge of discovering a fifth fundamental force of the universe. Currently, we have only four known fundamental forces: gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces.
At the moment, the fifth force is being described as a “protophobic force,” as it is suggested that the particle “ignores” the field emitted by protons. (Note, in one article I have also seen this called a “photophobic force” which seems to suggest it’s repulsion of light, rather than repelling protons, and which lends poetic gravity towards its claim to have a link to dark energy or dark matter, but at the time, it appears that single use of the term “photophobic force” was a misprint.)
This discovery was initially made in 2016, and was accepted with skepticism around the globe. But in the time between 2016 and 2019, many scientists have gone over the data and results, and cannot find an error or flaw in the test. In 2019, the experiment was performed again, and the results came back the same.
This force is linked to what appears to be a newly discovered particle currently named “X17” because it has a mass of 17 electron volts. If the data is correct, then at the very least we have a new particle, which would require a new, previously undiscovered type of boson to produce it.
Quoting from a CNN article:
[Jonathan] Feng [from University of California] says that, barring experimental error, there was only a one-in-a-trillion chance that the results were caused by anything other than the X17 particle, and this new fifth force.
It is these unknown fundamental forces that keep us from reaching a unified field theory, and that keep things like dark matter and dark energy a complete mystery to us. It is possible that this discovery could reveal information concerning dark matter or dark energy, in which case, the long term consequences of the discovery are likely immeasurable. Certainly if we are going to explore space beyond the reach of our solar system, knowing how to exploit additional fundamental forces will be of great importance.
Footnotes
A 'no-brainer Nobel Prize': Hungarian scientists may have found a fifth force of nature