Number 195 (Story #4), September 20, 1994 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein PROTONS MAY NOT BE SPHERICAL . This is the conclusion of Berthold Schoch at the ELSA accelerator in Bonn, Germany. ELSA shoots electrons at energies up to 1.2 GeV at protons in order to study the proton shape and its excited states without actually shattering it. This type of research explores the middle ground between particle physics, which regards a nucleus as a bunch of quarks held together with gluons, and nuclear physics, which normally views the nucleus as a collection of neutrons and protons held together by mesons. This work will soon be aided by the advent of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) in Virginia, where construction is almost complete. (Science News, 27 Aug.)