Suppose you have a thousand-page book, but each page has only a single line of text. You're supposed to extract the information contained in the book using a scanner, only this particular scanner systematically goes through each and every page, scanning one square inch at a time. It would take you a long time to get through the whole book with that scanner, and most of that time would be wasted scanning empty space. Original story reprinted with permission from Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent publication of the Simons Foundation whose mission is to enhance public understanding of science by covering research developments and trends in mathematics and the physical and life sciences. Such is the life of many an experimental physicist.