this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2026
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Science

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Proton's width measured to unparalleled precision, narrowing the path to new physics (phys.org)
submitted 3 days ago by misk@piefed.social to c/science@mander.xyz
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Source paper: Sub-part-per-trillion test of the Standard Model with atomic hydrogen

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[–] starik@lemmy.zip 20 points 3 days ago (2 children)

r~p~ = 0.8406(15) fm

Saved you a click

[–] christopher@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I wish I was smart enough to know how small that is

[–] SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

If the average human hair is about 50 billion femtometers wide, it means it takes about 30 billion ~~photons~~ protons lined up side to side to equal that width. So really fucking small.

Edit: swap an r for an h and the meaning changes significantly!

[–] dnick@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

Damn scientists and their fancy equipment, my tape measure will barely get down to the 0.8(14) fm range

[–] StrongHorseWeakNeigh@piefed.social 9 points 3 days ago

I was slightly confused by the title but they're just gathering even more evidence for the standard model. Interesting experiment.