A German surname, also referring to the German state of Hesse or various notable people with this name.
From the region of Hesse (German Hessen), derived from the Germanic tribal name Chatti or Hassi, meaning 'the hooded ones' or possibly related to an old word for 'dweller in the heathland'.
Victor Hess discovered cosmic rays in 1912 by taking electroscopes up in hot air balloons and finding that radiation increased with altitude, proving that mysterious rays were bombarding Earth from outer space - work that won him the Nobel Prize.
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