Even the strange world of subatomic particles isn’t above the aesthetic allure of symmetry. According to the particle physicists at CERN, supersymmetry is a prevailing conjecture in particle physics, a prediction of the Standard Model that each particle should have a symmetrical pair. The existence of these pairs would help explain the existence and nature of gravity, the most confounding fundamental force.

At a decidedly sub-empirical level, supersymmetry has a certain elegance to it. It’s nice to imagine a universe described by fundamental particles and their perfect pairs. It makes sense. Only, the universe rarely makes sense, and physicists working with particle colliders like the Large Hadron Collider at CERN have failed to discover all the supersymmetrical pairs that would confirm the prediction. The missing particles are such a problem for supersymmetry, that Forbes described it as “the greatest failed prediction in particle physics history.” Take that, supersymmetry.

Now, scientists claim that an exotic super-heavy version of the atomic nucleus known as a hypertriton may help confirm a basic symmetry of nature. Perhaps even more exciting to researchers: the hypertriton may also help describe the exotic matter that forms in the cores of neutron stars.

The universe just wants to look good from every angle

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