The unbelievable speed of electron emission from an atom

In a unique experiment, researchers have clocked how long it takes for an electron to be emitted from an atom. The result is 0.000 000 000 000 000 02 seconds, or 20 billionths of a billionth of a second. The researchers' stopwatch consists of extremely short laser pulses. Hopefully, the results will help to provide new insights into some of the most fundamental processes in nature.