FORUMS > Science & Technology Forum Rules

Scientists to unveil proof of ‘God particle’

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/scientists-unveil-proof-god-particle-165431909.html

I was just about to do my daily query of the LHC to see if they're found the Higgs yet (yes, I search it daily).

Thanks!

BTW, for those thrown back by the name "God Particle" that's just a stupid name some non-scientists gave it. The Higgs Boson is actually a formerly-theoretical subatomic particle that has mass. All other subatomic particles they've proven have no mass. In order for stuff we see to have any sort of mass, it requires a particle with mass within the atom's nucleus. I'm glad they finally found it.

I look forward to t-shirts printed with


"I found the higgs boson, it was behind the sofa the whole time!"

A truly amazing discovery!

An easy to understand explanation for anyone not familiar with the higgs

Alot of people do not understand the staggering importance of this, and the multitude of consequences this opens the door too. Some absolutely amazing ideas can be conceived now.

travellin light years are around the corner goodluck virgin galactic

JackKash saidAlot of people do not understand the staggering importance of this, and the multitude of consequences this opens the door too. Some absolutely amazing ideas can be conceived now.

I am rather ignorant on physics and the origins of the universe (i know the basics but get lost beyind that). Please can someone explain the consequences and the doors it opens, especially in practical matters Would really appreciate it.

I need to have sex with a sexy scientist right now.

JackBlair69 saidHoax.

Then religion and science are equal?

JackBlair69 saidHoax.

I don't see any news agencies reporting this as a hoax...

Überlassen Sie es den Schweizer. Gott ist stolz auf die Schweizer.

conservativejock saidÜberlassen Sie es den Schweizer. Gott ist stolz auf die Schweizer.

... c'est à Genève.

conservativejock saidÜberlassen Sie es den Schweizer. Gott ist stolz auf die Schweizer.

God loves Google translate.

Stuttershock said

conservativejock saidÜberlassen Sie es den Schweizer. Gott ist stolz auf die Schweizer.

God loves Google translate.

Ναι. Ναι, ο Θεός κάνει.

Scientist know that once a scientist says we have proof, people will belive it.

jim_stl said

conservativejock saidÜberlassen Sie es den Schweizer. Gott ist stolz auf die Schweizer.

... c'est à Genève.

Southwest of Geneva. :-) Still in the Schweiz.

Higgs-like leak? Video says new particle observed at LHC

"We've observed a new particle. ... We have quite strong evidence that there's something there," Joe Incandela, spokesperson for the LHC's CMS experiment, said in the video, which was discovered by Science News on CERN's website. "So, to ascertain its properties is still going to take us a little bit of time."

" This is something that may, in the end, be one of the biggest discoveries, or observations, of any new phenomena that we've had in our field in the last 30 or 40 years, going way back to the discovery of quarks."

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/03/12546015-higgs-like-leak-video-says-new-particle-observed-at-lhc

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

bischero said

JackBlair69 saidHoax.

I don't see any news agencies reporting this as a hoax...

A troll knows a hoax when he sees one.

conservativejock said

jim_stl said

conservativejock saidÜberlassen Sie es den Schweizer. Gott ist stolz auf die Schweizer.

... c'est à Genève.

Southwest of Geneva. :-) Still in the Schweiz.

I don't think you can find too many Swiss-Germans southwest of Geneva.

A good article explaining the search for the Higgs boson.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-18702455

paulflexes said
BTW, for those thrown back by the name "God Particle" that's just a stupid name some non-scientists gave it.

Amen!

While I understand that the Higgs boson is critical to for the mass of the other particles, what I don't get is how does one explain the mass of the Higgs itself if it is indeed a particle as well. They say it has mass, but isn't that a catch-22? Where does the Higgs derive it's own mass?

Any particle physicists out there? I'm confused.

I think it's important to understand what mass actually is. It's no more or less than resistance to motion. Newton's second law:

Force = mass * acceleration.

or, rearranged,

acceleration = Force / mass

i.e. for the same applied force, the object with more mass will accelerate less.

Now Newton's second law is not correct at high speeds or for subatomic particles; then we need relativity and/or quantum mechanics. But the idea of mass as resistance to motion remains the same.

You're very familiar with resistance to motion in the context of fluids. Try pushing a ball through water rather than air. Here the viscosity of the water resists the motion of the ball.

The Higgs mechanism for mass is a little like the fluid example above. The entirety of space is permeated with these Higgs bosons that appear and disappear randomly, but on average some are present. Other particles interact with the Higgs bosons and it's this interaction which, just like the viscosity of the fluid above, tends to resist the motion of the particles. Moreover, the Higgs bosons interact with themselves.

The interaction is actually rather complicated, not nearly as simple as a viscosity term. CERN has a better analogy:

"Imagine you're at a Hollywood party. The crowd is rather thick, and evenly distributed around the room, chatting. When the big star arrives, the people nearest the door gather around her. As she moves through the party, she attracts the people closest to her, and those she moves away from return to their other conversations. By gathering a fawning cluster of people around her, she's gained momentum, an indication of mass. She's harder to slow down than she would be without the crowd. Once she's stopped, it's harder to get her going again."

And Jorge Cham of PhD comics made this cute movie:

http://vimeo.com/41038445

Hope all this helps a little.

TigerTim saidI think it's important to understand what mass actually is. It's no more or less than resistance to motion. Newton's second law:

All this talk of bosons and quarks and whatnot is sheer nonsense.
I had it all explained to me years ago.
It's turtles all the way down.
Simple.

TerraFirma saidWhile I understand that the Higgs boson is critical to for the mass of the other particles, what I don't get is how does one explain the mass of the Higgs itself if it is indeed a particle as well. They say it has mass, but isn't that a catch-22? Where does the Higgs derive it's own mass?

Any particle physicists out there? I'm confused.

Once the decision is final that the Higgs has been found, that will be the next area of research...finding how it gets its mass.