Higgs boson definitely found - probably . . .

[werepossum]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-07-02-09-27-46

GENEVA (AP) -- Scientists working at the world's biggest atom smasher plan to announce Wednesday that they have gathered enough evidence to show that the long-sought "God particle" answering fundamental questions about the universe almost certainly does exist.

But after decades of work and billions of dollars spent, researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, aren't quite ready to say they've "discovered" the particle.

Instead, experts familiar with the research at CERN's vast complex on the Swiss-French border say that the massive data they have obtained will essentially show the footprint of the key particle known as the Higgs boson - all but proving it exists - but doesn't allow them to say it has actually been glimpsed.
SNIP

Since I'm supposed to include some commentary:

COOL!

It's not in the part I included, but it's actually two separate CERN teams working independently, each of which has almost reached the required level of confidence to say they've observed the Higgs particle.

 

[Anarchist420]

I just read about this and found it interesting.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

So they found signs of Higg's bosom in the large hard-on collider?

 

[manimal]

before we met you higgs boson we missed you so bad.....missed you so bad....

 

[Xecuter]

they hit ~2.9 sigma, right?

 

[alzan]

Why do I see the religio-nuts proclaiming this as proof of G-d's existence?

 

[ShawnD1]

Why do I see the religio-nuts proclaiming this as proof of G-d's existence?

You can even guess how it will play out
idiot: this boson proves god exists!
person: what is a higgs boson?
idiot: I don't know!

 

[PokerGuy]

What does this mean to us in practical terms?

 

[Mark R]

So they found signs of Higg's bosom in the large hard-on collider?

Well. We don't know, cos they're not saying.

All that has been announced is that there is they will be holding a big press conference on Wednesday where they are going to make a "major announcement", and that a lot of bigwigs, notably Peter Higgs, will be present and answering questions.

Current speculation is that they will be reporting preliminary (4 sigma) evidence of the Higgs particle.

 

[theevilsharpie]

What does this mean to us in practical terms?

If by practical you mean, does it have any applications?

At this point, no.

 

[Lemon law]

What does this mean to us in practical terms?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If we know and confirm the higgs Bosom exists, it confirms a well supported theory of Physics
predicted for some 30 years. As the Higgs Boson is the lone remaining member of the famdamily not found to demonstrate how various quarks combine to produce the protons, neutrons, and electrons that we already know make up the matter we are familiar with.

But here is the hooker, we have long ago found all the family members in the predicted quark family, with the exception of the Higgs Boson with lower energy linear and circular automic particle accelerators. But out of the trillions of collisions, not one single lower powered collision yielded the break up predicted pattern of a Higgs Boson.

But now we have Cern, finally coming on full power mode after a early magnet failure, and we are finally seeing collision patterns that greatly resemble what was predicted for a Higgs Boson.

But really good nuclear scientists are a cautious lot, as they want to make sure they are actually seeing the break up of a Higgs Boson, and not some other unpredicted quark that might mimic what we expected. Or maybe there are varieties of Higgs Bosons?

Its the curse and blessing of human science, as every time we learn something new, we learn there are many new questions left unanswered.

 

[manimal]

^ this gives me hope for the future. I find questions are more important than answers

 

[zinfamous]

Does it say how many hardons they collected?

 

[werepossum]

^ this gives me hope for the future. I find questions are more important than answers

This is true.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I wonder what the official name will be. Particles aren't named after people AFAIK and shouldn't be. Giving Higgs all the credit is repeating the Roslind Franklin scenario again and it isn't deserved.

 

[MovingTarget]

Why do I see the religio-nuts proclaiming this as proof of G-d's existence?

Because physicists' sense of humor when naming particles doesn't often fly in religious circles.

 

[Howard]

Does it say how many hardons they collected?

Depends on how many shifts women work there.

 

[blankslate]

Scientists discovering what gives some particles mass...

soon they'll be running weird experiments...

What could go wrong?

 

[Darwin333]

Scientists discovering what gives some particles mass...

soon they'll be running weird experiments...

What could go wrong?

Are you saying that we shouldn't be advancing our knowledge of the universe?

 

[fskimospy]

Are you saying that we shouldn't be advancing our knowledge of the universe?

We all know where this goes.

 

[RearAdmiral]

before we met you higgs boson we missed you so bad.....missed you so bad....

haha awesome.

 

[jhu]

Why the fuck does the media keep calling it the "God particle"??? It's the "god damn particle", dammit!!! I'd like to get all science reports in a room and smack'em upside the head.

 

[MovingTarget]

We all know where this goes.

Marked for a future "I told you so..."

 

[JTsyo]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If we know and confirm the higgs Bosom exists, it confirms a well supported theory of Physics
predicted for some 30 years. As the Higgs Boson is the lone remaining member of the famdamily not found to demonstrate how various quarks combine to produce the protons, neutrons, and electrons that we already know make up the matter we are familiar with.

But here is the hooker, we have long ago found all the family members in the predicted quark family, with the exception of the Higgs Boson with lower energy linear and circular automic particle accelerators. But out of the trillions of collisions, not one single lower powered collision yielded the break up predicted pattern of a Higgs Boson.

But now we have Cern, finally coming on full power mode after a early magnet failure, and we are finally seeing collision patterns that greatly resemble what was predicted for a Higgs Boson.

But really good nuclear scientists are a cautious lot, as they want to make sure they are actually seeing the break up of a Higgs Boson, and not some other unpredicted quark that might mimic what we expected. Or maybe there are varieties of Higgs Bosons?

Its the curse and blessing of human science, as every time we learn something new, we learn there are many new questions left unanswered.

More info on how the Higgs Boson plays into the understanding of mass. Be warned, I didn't get half of what was written, guess I should read the previous post that was refereed to in that post.

 

[wirednuts]

i always thought of it as- "if we know wtf the higgs boson is, we can finally make those hoverboards you saw in back to the future 2"