Crazy discovery at UofC's Fermi Lab

Colleges & Universities University of Chicago
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<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/18/science/18find.html?_r=1&oref=slogin[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/18/science/18find.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Physicists at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory reported what would seem to set a new standard for vacillation last week: a subatomic particle that reverses identity three trillion times a second, switching into its upside-down mirror-image evil-twin antimatter opposite and then back again.</p>

<p>The measurement of this yin-yang dance was a triumph for Fermilab’s Tevatron, which smashes together trillion-volt protons and antiprotons to create fireballs of primordial energy, and for the so-called Standard Model, a suite of theories that explains all that is known to date about elementary particles and their interactions.</p>

<p>Young-Kee Kim of the University of Chicago, a spokeswoman for the Collider Detector Facility collaboration, said, “Our real hope was for something bizarre.” Nature is tough, she said, but physicists are pretty tough, too. “We keep fighting,” Dr. Kim said.</p>

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<p>Yah, Chicago. This is exciting, in a cooll, nerdy way;)…:p. I wonder what impact this will have on the field of physics. At best, I’m a novice at such matters.</p>

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<p>Note: A recent study also measured the level of contentedness with sex in different countries. I know this has nothing to do with this study, but Chicago is crazy sweet in a random, brilliant way. BTW, in countries where the society was patriarchal, people rated their sex lives more poorly.</p>

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<p>Thanks for that info idad. Interesting. </p>

<p>I know nothing about physics but when you referred to “a new standard for vacillation”, I was quite sure this particle must be related to my son, who is setting a new personal record flipping back and forth on his decision about a college!</p>