Higgs boson particle

[Brazoo]

CERN is broadcasting a new announcement live right now regarding their findings about the Higgs.

SO far over my head right now, they're displaying a chart with wavy lines that says Limits and p-values, and I have no idea what it means, but I can't stop watching.

[Brazoo]

So far it's seeming like they're very pleased with most of the data.

The speaker I'm listening to keeps repeating that this data is "very early" and keeps saying they're still at the beginning of collecting data.

I wonder how the news will describe this tomorrow.

[Brazoo]

Okay - so they're summing up by saying they've observed a new boson consistent with how they expect the Higgs to behave, but they've obviously got a lot more work and confirmation to do.

Exciting stuff!

[sauce]

Wait. What's this about Boss Hogg??

[Apositive]

It is a huge discovery, from what little I understand of physics.....

[nobody]

Use peas and lima beans to contruct a small model to explain please.

[Brazoo]

I'm not an expert, but this is what I understand:

• Higgs boson is a sub-atomic particle that is suppose to give matter (ei. almost EVERYTHING) mass

• We have a theoretical standard model of physics that we use to try and understand what EVERYTHING in the universe is made of. The theory makes predictions about the kinds of particles we should find, IF our model of the universe is correct.

• Bosons are the smallest particles - the particles that aren't made up of other particles.

• Higgs boson was the only particle we didn't have evidence for yet - it ONLY existed in our theoretical model.

• Higgs boson is often called "the God Particle" - which is a name I think most scientists consider to be very silly, and not at all accurate.

• It's also been described as things like "the holy grail of physics" - which is also kinda silly.

• CERN is a European organization that built The Large Hadron Collider. It's the biggest and most complex machine ever made, and one of it's main goals was to find the Higgs boson.

You may remember The Large Hadron Collider from years ago in the news - when the media was spreading a lot of unlikely fears about the possibility of the Large Hadron Collider creating a black hole that would swallow up Earth. This is because it shoots two particles in opposite directions into a very long underground circular tunnel that accelerates the particles as they go until they collide with each other and smash to pieces. When this happens incredibly strong detectors can analyze the sub-atomic particles that the particles are made up of. The collision is a singularity-like event, and black holes are also singularities, so the media ran with the half-baked idea that mini-black holes were being created.

[Mikey]

I wish they would discover worthwhile things like cure for cancer, transporters and planet of the nude women.

They never discover cool thing anymore

[Brazoo]

I wish they would discover worthwhile things like cure for cancer, transporters and planet of the nude women.

They never discover cool thing anymore

DUDE - we might have just further confirmed a theory that explains the friggin' whole universe - with one of the most insane and complex machines ever built and a joint effort of scientists from all over the world.

I'm not down with the "god particle" nonsense the media spins, but look at it this way - we figured out a fraction of what we now know almost 100 years ago, and that formed the basis for nuclear energy and our most powerful cancer fighting treatments. We really don't know where this knowledge will take us.

[Brazoo]

Or, look at it this way: you need to understand mass, if you want to invent a transporter.

[MegoMark71]

This discovery could very much so change man kind entirely. They are just scratching the surface right now. But things could lead to amazing discoveries and cures for stuff that has plagued man for centuries. It is a lot to wrap your mind around but scientist are literally ****ing their pants right now. It's very hard for them to not look far into the future on what this may lead to. It could also make space travel much faster.

[jwyblejr]

Let me know when they finally figure out how to make cars that become suitcases.

[rche]

I think my favorite part about advanced scientific research like this is how they go about with the experiment.
Swing things around as fast as you can and then smash them together to see what they are made of.
Pretty much how I figured out how things worked as a kid.

[Brazoo]

I think my favorite part about advanced scientific research like this is how they go about with the experiment.
Swing things around as fast as you can and then smash them together to see what they are made of.
Pretty much how I figured out how things worked as a kid.

It's true!

Though in this case (from what I understand) there's no conceivable way to directly see a boson, it's way too small. All they can do is smash particles and try and detect the energy released in the instant it's destroyed. In this case they were looking for a specific kind of energy just to confirm that something was there.

They also did tests to try and falsify the Higgs boson - to rule out the possibility that there is no Higgs boson.

If we had confirmation that we lived in a "Higgsless" universe that would be HUGE too, I guess - but there'd be A LOT more 'splainin' to do.

[jimsmegos]

So long as it doesn't goof up "The Big Bang Theory" when it comes back in the fall, I'm cool.

Seriously the more science discovers / uncovers the more terrified i become. IMO there are some things human beings need not know. Not to get all preachy but yes early theoretical physics led to the nuclear age of energy, but it also led to the age of nuclear war and radioactive toxic waste. And when it comes down to it anything new and exciting in the word of science the first to take interest (and fund it if it has application) is the military.

While a transporter would be great and all, I can see a Romulan Disruptor being developed and applied first.

Humans suck.

Edit to note* I'm not anti military, I'm anti politicians who pull the military's strings.