science news (subatomic physics), BBC article 

bbc.com/news/science-environme

"The scientists at the Fermilab Collider Detector (CDF) in Illinois have found only a tiny difference in the mass of the W Boson compared with what the theory says it should be - just 0.1%. But if confirmed by other experiments, the implications are enormous. The so-called Standard Model of particle physics has predicted the behaviour and properties of sub-atomic particles with no discrepancies whatsoever for fifty years. Until now."

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

That's... That's big, right?

re: science news (subatomic physics), BBC article 

@LexYeen yeah that's pretty big

not sure what the implications are exactly but a 0.1% disagreement with theory is, despite what it sounds like, extremely large
-F

Follow

re: science news (subatomic physics), BBC article 

@LexYeen (of course that's if it turns out not to be a measurement error, like that thing a while ago with "faster-than-light" neutrinos)
-F

re: science news (subatomic physics), BBC article 

@Felthry Yeah, like... I'm not holding my breath until it's been independently confirmed.

re: science news (subatomic physics), BBC article 

@LexYeen I'm not going to demand independent confirmation too strongly, as i'm not 100% sure there are any other labs in the world with the capability to do that kind of measurement at the moment

but a confirmation to 5σ, or even just a few σ, would get us pretty interested
-F

Sign in to participate in the conversation
Awoo Space

Awoo.space is a Mastodon instance where members can rely on a team of moderators to help resolve conflict, and limits federation with other instances using a specific access list to minimize abuse.

While mature content is allowed here, we strongly believe in being able to choose to engage with content on your own terms, so please make sure to put mature and potentially sensitive content behind the CW feature with enough description that people know what it's about.

Before signing up, please read our community guidelines. While it's a very broad swath of topics it covers, please do your best! We believe that as long as you're putting forth genuine effort to limit harm you might cause – even if you haven't read the document – you'll be okay!