Subatomic particles and the process of discovery

Plus: Nancy Pelosi tests positive for Covid

Today I find myself fascinated by yesterday’s announcement that researchers at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory say that they’ve measured the mass of the W boson, a subatomic particle that’s involved in nuclear decay and the weak nuclear force. Those researchers found that the particle is heavier than standard physics models predict, something that could completely change the way physicists understand how the particles that make up the universe are put together. 

Or, you know, not…. It could be that something went wrong with the experiment, as happened a few years ago when physicists thought they measured neutrinos moving faster than the speed of light but turned out to be in error. The thing is, measuring the mass of a W boson is, in fact, incredibly difficult, as physicist Dr. Matthias Schott explains in a blog post. And this finding is in tension with other measurements of W boson mass, meaning that physicists need to figure out if they have to come up with new models for how subatomic particles work; or if there was just some error in the difficult process of measuring this particle. Because of the difficulty (and cost) involved, it may be years before we learn the answer. 

So what does this have to do with Covid? Well, the past two and a half years have seen a lot of different science regarding this virus moving at breakneck speed. It’s been a messy process, filled theories later dashed but also giving us a set of effective vaccines and treatments. But quite a bit about the virus and the disease it causes still remains a mystery. And despite all of what we’ve learned so far, it will likely be years, if not decades, before we fully understand Covid-19. We may live in an era of instantaneous communication, but the process of discovery takes time. 

Do you have comments or questions? Email us at health@forbes.com

More Covid News

What does this week’s meeting of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee say about the next steps forward in fighting the pandemic? 

New research suggests that decreased levels of innate lymphoid cells may contribute to the increased risk of developing severe Covid-19.

The CDC has released a report documenting 10 cases where people were confirmed to be infected with the delta coronavirus variant and were then reinfected with the omicron variant, less than 90 days later.

What Else We Are Reading

• UK airport warns COVID-related delays could last months (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

• America’s Pandemic Orphans Are Slipping Through The Cracks (THE ATLANTIC)

• U.S. life expectancy continued to drop in 2021, new analysis shows (WASHINGTON POST)