Quarks are particles that are not only hard to see, but pretty much impossible to measure. These teensy-tiny particles are the basis of subatomic particles called hadrons. With every discovery in this ...

The three valence quarks of a proton contribute to its spin, but so do the gluons, sea quarks and antiquarks, and orbital angular momentum as well. The electrostatic repulsion and the attractive ...

Deep within the atoms that make up our bodies and even within the protons and neutrons that make up atomic nuclei, are tiny particles called quarks. When you purchase through links on our site, we may ...

Stars are powered by nuclear fusion, in which two or more atomic nuclei have a close encounter and form one or more different nuclei 1. A key aspect of nuclear fusion is that the rearrangement of ...

Our Sun is powered by a fundamental phenomenon whereby atoms combine to unleash tremendous amounts of energy. But atoms might not be the only things that participate in this explosive reaction.

Fleeting connection Artist’s impression of toponium, which is a top quark and antitop quark that are briefly bound by an exchange of gluons. (Courtesy: D Dominguez/CERN) For decades, physicists ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. The Universe is out there, waiting for you to discover it. This article is more than 4 years old. Combinations of three quarks ...

There’s a pencil lying on my desk right now. It’s not much to look at, but what if I could zoom way in and see the protons and other itty-bitty stuff inside it? My friend Ryan Corbin told me it would ...

Nowadays physicists are confident in their knowledge of nature’s ultimate bits of matter. A handful of building blocks can be easily summarized in a neat little chart. But merely half a century ago, ...

Quantum entanglement has made its way to the top. Scientists have measured the strange quantum phenomenon of entanglement in top quarks, the heaviest fundamental subatomic particles known. It’s the ...

Quarks make up all matter, but have never been seen by themselves. And they have “flavors” and “colors” — though neither term has any relevance to what they actually do. Let’s take a look at why we ...