As far as we’ve been able to tell, all matter in the universe comes in just of two distinct types: fermions (particles that make stuff)and bosons (particles that mediate a force).

However, physicists from Rice University have developed a mathematical framework for a third type, known as paraparticles, whose behavior could imply the existence of elementary particles nobody has ever considered. While they don’t yet have a means for experimentally identifying such particles yet (or even predicting exactly what they’d do), this is the first time that such a model has been found that allows for a new particle family.