Higgs Boson Discovered

[ZenGum]

There's a 5-in-10 million chance that this is a fluke. That was enough for physicists to declare that the Higgs boson – the world's most-wanted particle – has been discovered. Rapturous applause, whistles and cheers filled the auditorium at CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland.

Almost 50 years after its existence was first predicted, the breakthrough means that the standard model of particle physics, which explains all known particles and the forces that act upon them, is now complete.

A Higgs boson with a mass of around 125 to 126 gigaelectronvolts (GeV) was seen separately by the twin CMS and ATLAS detectors at the Large Hadron Collider, each with a confidence level of 5 sigma, or standard deviations, the heads of the experiments announced today at CERN.

Even by particle physicists' strict standards, that's statistically significant enough to count as a particle discovery.

This is why yo mamma so fat.

[ZenGum]

Although to be strictly accurate, I should have said New Boson discovered; probably Higgs.

The physicists were a little reticent to call the discovery a "Higgs boson", preferring to call it the discovery of a "new boson".

That's because they don't yet know its properties – and so can't confirm how similar it is to the Higgs of the standard model. "It's the beginning of a long journey to investigate all the properties of this particle," says Heuer.

One property that needs to be investigated is the particle's spin: the standard model says it should have a value of zero; a more exotic boson would give a value of two. Oliver Buchmueller of CMS says the LHC should be able to determine the new boson's spin by the end of 2012.

[DanaC]

Physicists write shit headlines.

[Lamplighter]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Physicists write shit headlines.

Celebrations as Higgs bosom is finally discovered

Why would parents name their baby girl "Higgs" ?
But nevertheless, it's something that happens to every teenybopper (eventually).

[Griff]

Ah, the welcome flowering of womanhood!

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Celebrations as Higgs bosom is finally discovered

Why would parents name their baby girl "Higgs" ?
But nevertheless, it's something that happens to every teenybopper (eventually).

Har!



Though I was thinking more of the imperative to caveat everything so thoroughly :p

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Why would parents name their baby girl "Higgs" ?

Fans of Aliens. Wanted to be able to say, "Somebody wake up Higgs" on a regular basis.

Damn. That was Hicks.

[Lamplighter]

You saw it here...



Physicists Peter Higgs, right, and Francois Englert attend a news conference at CERN,
near Geneva, on July 4, 2012. Photographer: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

Two European scientists won the Nobel Prize in Physics for describing the Higgs boson,
a theoretical particle that may explain where mass comes from and advances
man’s understanding of how the world is constructed.

Peter Higgs, 84, a retired professor of theoretical physics at the University of Edinburgh,
and Francois Englert, 80, a retired professor at the Free University of Brussels,
will share the 8 million-krona ($1.25 million) prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
said today in Stockholm.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Higgs and his lover Englert, share the $1.25 million... after they dumped Boson's body in some dark cold moor.

[wolf]

Well, this should thorough change the face of the next season of The Big Bang Theory.

[chrisinhouston]

Seems funny that they nicknamed it "The God Particle" when Peter Higgs who it was named after was an atheist!

[chrisinhouston]

And what I want to know is will it improve my cell phone reception?

[ZenGum]

If I ever get my hands on the moron who came up with that "god particle" BS, I'll high five him in the face.

With a brick.

[Cyber Wolf]

Now that they've got that all figured out, these exceptional minds need to get started on the Hoverboard.

[DanaC]

Fuck the hoverboard, where's my flying car? And I mean a proper flying car that levitates in place when needed.