So far so good, but here's where things get odd. Gluons have absolutely no mass, while the total mass of the quarks only represents 5% of the mass of the protons and neutrons. So, an explanation for the missing 95% of the mass had to be found. The experts discovered that the missing percentage of the mass derives from the energy resulting from the interactions and movements of the quarks and gluons.



This basically states that mass and energy are equivalent, just like Einstein's theory indicated, and, even more: mass can be transmuted into energy and vice versa. Extrapolating on the basis of this equation, it can be calculated how much energy is obtained while converting specific amounts of mass. Sadly, this was also used as a ground for building the atomic bomb.
"Until now, this has been a hypothesis," shared the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France in a press release, cited by Discovery. "It has now been corroborated for the first time."

if Gluons have absolutely no mass-
how do we know they EXIST?

rvnurse, their existence is based on properties other than mass which can be measured, just as massless neutrinos can be detected by the effect they have upon colliding with other particles.

Thanks for the explanation Jorjor

a person with no arm can detect someone touching his nonexistant fingers. that does not mean they are in fact being touched.
how do we know that what is being measured is not just a sensation and is in fact something that takes up space- ie has mass?

to exist in reality- an object must have mass- or is it just not measurable?