Scientists find mystery particle

[compudog]

I understand that Femilab is the largest producer of anti-electrons (or positrons) and has a storage facility of the same. Is this what Data's brain works on? And wouldn't anti-protons be negative (or opposite spin) neutrons?

 

[DrPizza]

I made a big deal out of this in pre-calculus class this afternoon (most of my students are/were/will be in my physics class this year/last year/next year.)

But really, for those of you complaining that science just changes it's theories, that's not quite what happens. The theories are modified as new information comes to light. Progression of discoveries: Atoms. Then, we broke atoms down further into protons, neutrons, and electrons. Then, we broke some of these particles down further. Electrons are a type of lepton. Protons and neutrons are classified as baryons and are made of 3 quarks. (there are 6 flavors of quarks: up, down, charm, strange, top, bottom, as well as anti-quarks for each of those quarks) Protons consist of uud, and neutrons consist of udd quarks.

Egads, I just spent 15 minutes trying to type a whole lesson on the Standard Model.

Suffice it's sufficient to say at this point that prior to this new discovery, the standard model consisted of Fermions (leptons and quarks) and Bosons (force carriers). Quarks occured in trios called hadrons (such as the proton: up up down quarks, and the neutron up down down quarks), or in pairs called mesons. Never in 4's. Always 2 or 3. Never alone.

And now, it appears that there may be a 4-some. Or maybe some "molecule" made of 2 mesons stuck together. Either way, it just requires a little more refinement of the standard model - they're not going to throw the model out the window over it.

It's more a matter of something happened that the standard model failed to predict, rather than something happened that the standard model predicted wouldn't happen. The latter would have been a major problem.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: compudog
I understand that Femilab is the largest producer of anti-electrons (or positrons) and has a storage facility of the same. Is this what Data's brain works on? And wouldn't anti-protons be negative (or opposite spin) neutrons?

Nooooo, Data is a fictional character. He's really a human actor pretending to be an android.
Anti-protons are made of two anti-up quarks and an anti-down quark. Protons are made of 2 up and 1 down quark. Neutrons: udd, and antineutrons (yup, you guessed it) anti up, and 2 antidown. Spin = 1/2 for each.

 

[luvya]

I love science

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: TommyVercetti

Originally posted by: maziwanka
they cant keep changing things everytime a new particle is found.

Now do you see the perils of modern science? Scientistst just can't agree on one thing or theory, yet we are supposed to believe in everything they say. Kinda rediculous and hypocritical if you ask me. Now if there was only one source of information regarding everything from science to humanity, that would be super. Wonder if such a thing exists?

-Praise The Lord.

BWAHAHAHAHA!

 

[upsciLLion]

Is this create a religious flame-fest day?

I love reading about new scientific discoveries. I should re-subscribe to Scientific American. Much more pure science than Popular Electronics I mean Science.

ups