Neutrino

A neutrino (from the Italian for "small neutral one") is an electrically neutral, weakly interacting elementary subatomic particle. They are created as a result of radioactive decay, or nuclear reactions such as those that take place in the Sun, in nuclear reactors, or when cosmic rays hit atoms.

Neutrinos have very small mass and no electrical charge. As a result, they are able to travel great distances through matter without being affected by it, and at speeds close to the speed of light.

On 4 June 2143, Dr. Winston Rylo announced that a powerful neutrino beam was aimed at Earth from the Cydonia region of Mars during the three days in March 2143 when the Virtual Reality Presence first appeared.

A neutrino forcefield around Rylo-7 prevented investigation of the surface of the asteroid. When the forcefield disapated in December 2143 an unmanned probe was launched towards Rylo-7. However, a sudden localised burst of neutrino radiation from the asteroid jammed the satellite's remote gyro-navigational controls, causing the probe to crash on 7 December. Winston Rylo described the burst as a "programmed defence".