Large Hadron Collider Reveals an Atomic Nucleus Shaped Like a Bowling Pin

(ComicSans/iStock/Getty Images Plus) Every atom of matter in the Universe is built around a nucleus. It's a tightly packed bundle of protons and neutrons that makes up the atomic core, defines its elemental identity, and contains most of its mass. Textbooks often depict this blob of particles as a sort of spherical raspberry, around which electrons whirl in a series of orbits – but that isn't…