Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered an entirely new type of quantum entanglement; A phenomenon that causes particles to “bind” together in an instant, strange way, even over vast cosmic distances.

This discovery allowed them to photograph an unprecedented view of the strange world inside atoms. The research solves a long-standing mystery about the nuclei of atoms containing particles called protons and neutrons, and could help shed light on topics ranging from quantum computing to astrophysics.

The scientists recorded the interference patterns that result from the entanglement of two particles with different charges, which opens a completely new window into atoms. “Interference measurements between visible particles have never been done in the past”said Daniel Brandenburg, co-author of the new study. Brandenburg and colleagues reached this milestone with a sensitive detector called the Solenoidal Tracker on RHIC, or STAR, that records interactions between gold ions accelerated at near-light speeds.