Humankind is constantly inventing new ways to stay in touch. But in some situations it’s difficult to keep the lines of communication open. A space shuttle’s radio falls silent when the craft slips behind a neighboring planet. A submarine loses contact when deep water blocks signals from the surface. Scientists recently proved possible a new way to converse when radio waves won’t do. For the first time, physicists and engineers have successfully transmitted a message using neutrinos.

Scientists have for decades contemplated communicating across long distances in a kind of Morse code via neutrinos, ghostly particles that interact so rarely that they can sail through the entire Earth.