Where to neutrinos come from and where are they going?

Question

Even though they may not travel the speed of light, it seems like they must travel pretty fast. Why? What could be their purpose? Do any travel at different speeds?

Answer 1

Neutrinos are elementary particles. Travelling close to the speed of light, lacking electric charge and able to pass through ordinary matter almost undisturbed, their detection is extremely challenging. Neutrinos were once thought to have no mass, but they are now known to have a miniscule (but non-zero) mass.

Neutrinos are created as a result of certain types of radioactive decay or nuclear reactions such as those in the sun, in nuclear reactors, or when cosmic rays hit molecules. There are three types, or "flavors", of neutrinos: electron neutrinos, muon neutrinos and tau neutrinos; each type also has an antimatter partner, an antineutrino. Electron neutrinos or antineutrinos are involved whenever neutrons change into protons or vice versa, in the two forms of beta decay.

Most neutrinos which pass through the Earth emanate from the sun and more than 50 trillion solar electron neutrinos pass through the human body every second.

Answer 2

Neutrinos are elementary particles. Travelling close to the speed of light, lacking electric charge and able to pass through ordinary matter almost undisturbed, their detection is extremely challenging. Neutrinos have masses.

Neutrinos are created as a result of certain types of radioactive decay or nuclear reactions such as those in the sun, in nuclear reactors, or when cosmic rays hit molecules. There are three types, or "flavors", of neutrinos: electron neutrinos, muon neutrinos and tau neutrinos; each type also has an antimatter partner, an antineutrino. Electron neutrinos or antineutrinos are involved whenever neutrons change into protons or vice versa, in the two forms of beta decay.

Answer 3

How about those cut-and-paste answers?

To get philosophical, nothing in the universe has any 'purpose'; it just is the way it is. Someone may eventually discover why nature is what it is, but that still wouldn't give it any purpose.

There are several different types of neutrinos, and as far as I know they all have the same tiny mass, which lets them travel faster than any other particle and almost always means they won't collide with other particles even when going through an entire planet or star.

Neutrinos are products of radioactive decay and nuclear reactions in stars.