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Science

Antimatter Breakthrough -- Electron is Stunningly Spherical, Scientists Discover

Published May 26, 2011

| NewsCore

The electron was hailed by British scientists Thursday as the roundest natural object in the universe.

Researchers from Imperial College London conducted a decade-long laser experiment on the subatomic particle and discovered that it differs from a perfect sphere by less than 0.000000000000000000000000001 of a centimeter -- so that "if the electron were magnified to the size of the solar system, it would still appear spherical within the width of a human hair."

"I don't know of any naturally-occurring object that is rounder and has been measured to the same level of accuracy," said research leader Dr. Jony Hudson, writing in the journal Nature.

The breakthrough on the shape and structure of one of the fundamental building blocks of atoms could advance research on why more matter than antimatter exists in the universe.

The electron was previously considered to have a distorted shape -- causing the subatomic particle and its antimatter opposite, the positron, to behave in different ways -- but that theory now seems unlikely.

"As we've found that so far as we can tell, the electron is round, this rules out some of the possible explanations for the fate of antimatter," Hudson said.

Professor Edward Hinds, another member of the research team, added that "physicists just do not know what happened to all the antimatter, but this research can help us to confirm or rule out some of the possible explanations."

"It's been a very difficult measurement to make, but this knowledge will let us improve our theories of fundamental physics," Hudson said.

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bugsbunny

37 minutes ago

A column about Electrons? What's with all these negative stories?

5 people liked this.

sn0wb0arder

32 minutes ago in reply to bugsbunny

oh that was funny.

thinking human

1 hour ago

What does "knowing" the size of an electron gain us? Is there some practical thing that can be done with that new theory, on how big an electron is?

cincy151

32 minutes ago in reply to thinking human

Is it difficult for you to understand the applications that have come from theoretical physics? How do you think GPS is calibrated? E=MC2 - how about PET scans? Quantum mechanics - how about binary code and the Internet you're using this evening? - maybe you should pull out a chisel and stone tablet and walk your comments over to Fox news? - maybe you'll begin to get the idea

3 people liked this.

thinking human

1 hour ago

I'm going to take a wait and see attitude on this. I think its beyond our ability to see and measure things that are so small, even trillions times smaller than a centimeter.

What does this gain us, anyway, to know such a thing? Justs plays into the game that scientists know everything and evolution must be the way it is. Not buying it. They do not know, and it stands to reason that they do not know. Its one thing to make a rocket and eventually make a trip to the moon, but this is much harder. We are talking about something we will NEVER see or know.

sn0wb0arder

27 minutes ago in reply to thinking human

microprocessors technology is now measured in the widths of multiple molecules. just like things such as electricity, we may not know the exact marketable value for some time.

whyxazz

1 hour ago

B a l l s !

1 person liked this.

selfworthy

1 hour ago

think of it like a in two way two form of thinking at the same time in one there is the division, on the other there is only a whole one thing where everything mingles and interacts together...withing one sphere. but at the same time meaning both the two forms of thinking are one at the same time but two and it gets confusing right even for me sometimes.

sn0wb0arder

26 minutes ago in reply to selfworthy

i assume you either are not a native english speaker or you are intentionally typing jibberish.

selfworthy

1 hour ago

"ok,
so you really want to know... but i would have to write a book on it
and i don't have the grammar to do so...but in short i try to tell
you...but any one who knows science knows it take more then a few words
on a post to say all there is a component of the universe and its
function it took the scientist ten year money and lot of work just o
say that the electrons have a spherical shape...so it would have to take
me all that time at least to tell you how is it the invisible stil take
space, room area of it own."

Are trying to posit that the
electrons are invisible? Or are you trying to posit that anti-matter is
invisible? Neither of which are by the way. Also that was exceeding hard
to decipher as well.

think of it this way compare the electrons' sphere to that surrounding the earth then the air within the earth's sphere could be compare to the anti-matter withing the electron, the air seems invisible but is just composed of smaller particles invisible to the human eye...in the electron sphere i presumed it works in a similar way so that what we now call anti-matter might just be something yet not defined, and like air it's compose of smaller particles.in another note; though its true that opposite reject each other it's not always the case sometime they attract, when their polar side becomes compatible due to their polar position, this itself need more explaining...but due to this connection and possibility it's how the begging of matter originates from.

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Thursday, 26 May 2011

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Science

Antimatter Breakthrough -- Electron is Stunningly Spherical, Scientists Discover

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