The team announced its “ultrahigh energy” neutrino on Wednesday, in a paper published in the journal Nature. The finding brings physicists and astronomers one step closer to understanding just what, exactly, is out there thrusting particles to such unfathomable speeds.

Using an observatory under construction deep beneath the Mediterranean Sea near Sicily, scientists have detected a ghostly subatomic particle called a neutrino boasting record-breaking energy in another important step toward understanding some of the universe's most cataclysmic events.

A neutrino detector submerged in the Mediterranean Sea has sniffed out the most energetic ghost particle yet, scientists reported Wednesday. The newly detected neutrino is around 30 times more active than the previous recordholder.