Scientists at CERN have announced that they have FINALLY found the elusive Higgs-Boson particle or God particle! After years of smashing protons together at amazing speeds, at the LHC (Large Hardon Collider), located in Geneva, it seems they have reached an end to the long search that has lasted almost 50 years. This is astonishing news. If true, this will end the long sought after (and expensive) search for this particle. Now that the Higgs has been found, the current Standard Model of physics and particles is safe.
Scientists around the world cheered and popped champagne when the news spread around the world. It certainly is a day to celebrate.This is exciting news for the field of physics.
But I suspect, since there are hints that the Standard Model isn’t still quite correct, that it will change as we find more evidence for more and more particles and anything else that doesn’t quite make sense.
But Kudos to the scientists that found what they are calling the “Higgslike” particle. And so what is so great about this particle anyway?
A quote from the New York Times article:
Confirmation of the Higgs boson or something very much like it would constitute a rendezvous with destiny for a generation of physicists who have believed in the boson for half a century without ever seeing it. The finding affirms a grand view of a universe described by simple and elegant and symmetrical laws — but one in which everything interesting, like ourselves, results from flaws or breaks in that symmetry.
And another:
According to the Standard Model, the Higgs boson is the only manifestation of an invisible force field, a cosmic molasses that permeates space and imbues elementary particles with mass. Particles wading through the field gain heft the way a bill going through Congress attracts riders and amendments, becoming ever more ponderous.
Without the Higgs field, as it is known, or something like it, all elementary forms of matter would zoom around at the speed of light, flowing through our hands like moonlight. There would be neither atoms nor life
The Higgs particle is thought to bestow all other particles in the Universe with mass. Currently, of all the particles we know about, the mass of these particles is all over the map. Scientists believed, for a long time now, that there was one particle that gave all other particles their mass. So this is why the Higgs-Boson particle is often referred to as the “God particle”.
My question is – What gives the Higgs-Boson particle its ability? And if there is one particle that is a “manifestation of an invisible force field”, then why can’t there be more of them out there?
I guess we’ll have to wait and see. It will takes months and even years to study all the data from the LHC and confirm that this was indeed the Higgs-Boson particle discovered.
But for now, the scientists can gloat for awhile, stand tall, and puff out their chests. They deserve it. They got something right and have proof of it – for now. But I’m sure it will change, probably sooner than later. We have taken a giant leap in physics if the Higgs-Boson particle has truly been found. It can explain a lot of the how’s and the what’s that still need explaining.
We still don’t know the whole picture. The Standard Model for physics is safe for now. And we will continue to use it to “explain” the world of physics and particles. But it isn’t over by a long shot.
I can’t wait for the next BIG discovery!
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Remember too, Knowledge Puffeth Up!
Just when U thought it was safe to go back into the water, oh thats about sharks. There is a parallel here though to that statement. Just when U thought U knew everything about PHYSICS, it will turn around and bite U back. Remember Chaos Theory!!!!! I dont believe this is the end of the hunt. Maybe God keeps creating new particles to confuse us!
Well who knows thats a GOD Particle or not? they affirm that it’s a big discovery of the century but still we don’t know how it could change the physics?
It’s a good post.
What a goog blog! Thank you for sharing.