The Higgs boson discovery confirmed by scientists
Today may be a historical day in science. According to numerous press reports today, scientists have confirmed the discovery of a new subatomic particle that is consistent with the long-sought-after Higgs boson.
The historic announcement came in a progress report from the Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator at CERN.
In a discovery that throws light on the nature of space and time, a new subatomic particle has been found that is consistent with the long-sought-after Higgs boson.
“We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature,” Rolf Heuer, director general of CERN” announced today.
Prof. Womersley, chief executive of the Science and technology Facilities Council, told reporters: “They have discovered a particle consistent with the Higgs boson”, “Discovery is the important word. That is confirmed. It’s a momentous day for science.”
The Higgs boson particle, and its associated field, were predicted theoretically in the 1960s by British physicist Peter Higgs and others to fill a gap in the Standard Model of physics. The model as it stood had no mechanism to explain why some particles are massless, while other particles have varying degrees of mass.
After collecting data for roughly a quadrillion proton-on-proton collisions, CERN scientists found evidence for a new type of particle with Higgs-like characteristics. However, more time is needed to nail down those characteristics completely.
It’s conceivable that the discoveries made at the Large Hadron Collider will eventually point to new sources of energy, new ways of communication or transportation.
If the particle was shown not to exist, it would have meant tearing up the Standard Model and going back to the drawing board.
The CERN laboratory appeared to have let slip its biggest breakthrough in a generation.
More reading: Higgs boson explained, Physics professors answer questions, Higgs confirmed
