Slashdot Mirror


E=mc^2 Verified In Quantum Chromodynamic Calculation

chirishnique and other readers sent in a story in AFP about a heroic supercomputer computation that has verified Einstein's most famous equation at the level of subatomic particles for the first time. "A brainpower consortium led by Laurent Lellouch of France's Centre for Theoretical Physics, using some of the world's mightiest supercomputers, have set down the calculations for estimating the mass of protons and neutrons, the particles at the nucleus of atoms. ... [T]he mass of gluons is zero and the mass of quarks is only five per cent. Where, therefore, is the missing 95 per cent? The answer, according to the study published in the US journal Science on Thursday, comes from the energy from the movements and interactions of quarks and gluons. ... [E]nergy and mass are equivalent, as Einstein proposed in his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905." Update: 11/21 15:50 GMT by KD : New Scientist has a slightly more technical look at the accomplishment.

13 of 268 comments (clear)

  1. So your saying... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Cowboy Neal isn't 'heavy set', he is just full of energy?

  2. Good news, everyone! by Drakkenmensch · · Score: 4, Funny

    "You fools! You've altered the outcome by observing it!" - Professor Hubert Farnsworth

    1. Re:Good news, everyone! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I tried that line on my ex when she surprised me with her sister on her bed. It didn't work.

  3. Oh dear by YourExperiment · · Score: 2, Funny

    New Scientist has a slightly more technical look at the accomplishment.

    When I read a sentence like that, I begin to wonder if maybe I'm getting my science news from the wrong source.

  4. Re:First proton by idontgno · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm picturing a tiny kitten peering intently at his cute little paw, with a macro over his head reading "My quark has a flavor?"

    --
    Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
  5. Re:Pretty cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    There is no gravity the universe sucks.

  6. My proof by Chapter80 · · Score: 5, Funny
    My proof:

    We know that e^(pi*i)=-1
    and i=Sqrt(-1)
    So, to prove that e=mc^2,
    we substitute for e, and you get
    (mc^2)^(pi*sqrt(-1))=-1 or
    (mc^2)^(sqrt(-pi^2)=-1
    mc Hammer only had 15 minutes of fame, so squaring that is 225 minutes
    If you had a pie, and you squared it off, and I took it from you, and made it round again, you'd have the square root of a negative pie squared.
    But this is pi, not pie, so we need to divide by e, which we know is 2.71828...
    So 225^(1/2.71828)=-1

    I know this worked yesterday... one moment....

    1. Re:My proof by HuckleCom · · Score: 2, Funny

      Or,
      Girls = Time * Money
      Time = Money

      Thus:
      Girls = Money * Money = Money^2

      Money = sqrt(Evil)

      Therefore: Girls = (sqrt(Evil))^2

      Simplified: Girls = Evil (Shamelessly stolen from an old 'funny internet' picture)

    2. Re:My proof by pitchpipe · · Score: 2, Funny

      BEHOLD, Sarah Palin also does mathematics.

      --
      Look where all this talking got us, baby.
  7. Re:Incomplete Equation by Muad'Dave · · Score: 2, Funny

    E^2 = (mc^2)^2 + (pc)^2

    Political Correctness has found it's way into Physics now, I guess.

    --
    Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
  8. Scientists are bankers by scorp1us · · Score: 3, Funny

    It seems odd that scientists now claim that something (matter) is creating from fluctuations in the nothing (vacuum).

    Previously, the audacity was only had by bankers creating value from no-documentation mortgage-backed securities.

    --
    Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
  9. Re:I've only got one thing to say... by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, all those stupid PhD physicists, wasting money on experimental rigorous verification of stuff that any random geek on /. already knows is true. Tell you what, why don't you send them an e-mail explaining how they're wasting time and money, and let us know how that turns out?

    --
    The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
  10. Re:Pretty cool by Daimanta · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well they tried, but unfortunately the people were killed by an atomic bomb.

    --
    Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.