10-year study finds the shape of an electron

[Lance R. Casey]

It is round:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110525131707.htm

[Tswusayona Tsamsiyu]

why, did before they didn't think it was round. I always thought that naturally the best shape is ball and that all sub-particles are shaped like that. I think it's pretty logical that it is round and I can't understand why before the research they thought different.
of course it can't be completely round due to tiny internal movements which probably happen. but still...

[Nyx]

Whoa, it's not just round, it's almost perfectly round! And it'll be fun to see if they can test some complex systems like they say in the last paragraph

why, did before they didn't think it was round. I always thought that naturally the best shape is ball and that all sub-particles are shaped like that. I think it's pretty logical that it is round and I can't understand why before the research they thought different.
of course it can't be completely round due to tiny internal movements which probably happen. but still...

I think the thing is more that they couldn't be sure before they proved it and pretty much everyone assumes that particles are round because that's how they're described in textbooks (just look at protons, they have all kinds of shapes (due to their quarks, yes, so it's not quite the same thing, but still)). The ball shape starts out as a simplification that has to be proven either right or wrong at some point.

[Human No More]

It's logical that it would be, but now they actually know it is

['Itan Atxur]

Thats one of those things I kind of just never even thought about because I always assumed it was round. Good to know it for sure now

[Tsäroltxe te Eyrutì Tantse'itan]

But, what if you want to find the location of an electron?  Good 'ol Heisenberg.

That is a cool study!  I like.

['Itan Atxur]

I want whatever measuring tape they're using because they got that measurement down to the tiniest fraction imaginable!

[Lance R. Casey]

But, what if you want to find the location of an electron?  Good 'ol Heisenberg.

   – And how does the Heisenberg compensator work?
   – It works very well, thank you.

(Famous exchange in an interview with Mike Okuda, graphic designer and technical consultant on Star Trek: TNG onwards, regarding the transporters.)

[Eywa'eveng-tìranyu]

I want whatever measuring tape they're using because they got that measurement down to the tiniest fraction imaginable!

^^

[Yayo]

Electrons are considered to be a wave rather than an individual particle. I spoke to my Physics teacher about this article and he was a bit iffy about it.

[Lance R. Casey]

Electrons are considered to be a wave rather than an individual particle.

Actually, it's both. It's complicated.

[Yayo]

I understand that it's both but I believe that it's incorrect to state that an electron has a determinable shape.

It's like attributing a value to infinity. You can't. It's an unreachable limit.  

[Clarke]

Cantor did. 

I always thought it didn't really make sense to ask about the electron's shape, because of the fuzziness involved in the wave.

[Dreamlight]

What makes it even more paradoxical (if it is true) is that the exact location of an electron is not definite.

[Yayo]

It's actually almost impossible to determine the location of the electron. Unless you're Bohring. 

[Human No More]

But, what if you want to find the location of an electron?  Good 'ol Heisenberg.

   – And how does the Heisenberg compensator work?
   – It works very well, thank you.

(Famous exchange in an interview with Mike Okuda, graphic designer and technical consultant on Star Trek: TNG onwards, regarding the transporters.)

That's the beauty of it. Technically, all it needs to do is be there - knowing how it works would affect how it operates.
If anyone needs one, I can sell you one