A hypernucleus, a subatomic bound system with at least one hyperon, is a great test ground to investigate nuclear forces and general baryonic interactions with up, down and strange quarks. Hypernuclei have been extensively studied for almost seven decades in reactions involving cosmic rays and with accelerator beams. In recent years, experimental studies of hypernuclei have entered a new stage using energetic collisions of heavy-ion beams. However, these investigations have revealed two puzzling results related to the lightest three-body hypernuclear system, the so-called hypertriton, and the unexpected existence of a bound state of two neutrons with a Λ hyperon. Solving these puzzles will not only impact our understanding of the fundamental baryonic interactions with strange quarks but also of the nature of the deep interior of neutron stars. In this Perspective, we discuss approaches to solving these puzzles, including experiments with heavy-ion beams and the analysis of nuclear emulsions using state-of-the-art technologies. We summarize ongoing projects and experiments at various facilities worldwide and outline future perspectives.

超核是一种至少有一个超子的亚原子束缚系统，是研究核力和一般重子与上夸克、下夸克和奇异夸克相互作用的绝佳试验场。在涉及宇宙射线和加速器光束的反应中，超核已被广泛研究了近七年。近年来，利用重离子束的高能碰撞对超核的实验研究进入了一个新阶段。然而，这些研究揭示了两个与最轻的三体超核系统有关的令人费解的结果，即所谓的超氚，以及两个中子与 Λ 超子的束缚态的意外存在。解决这些难题不仅会影响我们对与奇怪夸克的基本重子相互作用的理解，还会影响我们对中子星深层内部性质的理解。在这个视角中，我们讨论解决这些难题的方法，包括重离子束实验和使用最先进技术分析核乳液。我们总结了全球各种设施正在进行的项目和实验，并概述了未来的前景。