Key particle weighs in a bit heavy, confounding physicists

By SETH BORENSTEIN
AP Science Writer

Scientists have calculated that a fundamental particle of physics has more mass than expected. If verified by other experiments, the results published Thursday in the journal Science would mean that the model physicists use to understand the workings of the universe may need to be revised. Researchers at Fermi National Accelerator Lab crashed atoms together over 10 years to measure the mass of fleeting fundamental particles called W bosons and were surprised by the result. They now wonder if there’s an undiscovered particle that would account for the difference, or perhaps an entirely new phenomenon.