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Higgs boson has most likely been found

danarhea

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This is huge news. The Higgs boson, otherwise known as the God particle, has probably been found. Experiments at CERN have determined that there is a 99.9% chance that they have found the particle. They are not calling it definite because the accuracy has to be within one part in a million to pass that milestone. However, we can be pretty certain that proof of the Higgs has been shown, and that it will become official within a few months, after further experiments confirm it's existence within the rigorous margin of error that is called for.

Article is here.
 
This is huge news. The Higgs boson, otherwise known as the God particle, has probably been found. Experiments at CERN have determined that there is a 99.9% chance that they have found the particle. They are not calling it definite because the accuracy has to be within one part in a million to pass that milestone. However, we can be pretty certain that proof of the Higgs has been shown, and that it will become official within a few months, after further experiments confirm it's existence within the rigorous margin of error that is called for.

Article is here.

I'll reserve my excitement for when it is no longer "probable."
 
This is huge news. The Higgs boson, otherwise known as the God particle, has probably been found. Experiments at CERN have determined that there is a 99.9% chance that they have found the particle. They are not calling it definite because the accuracy has to be within one part in a million to pass that milestone. However, we can be pretty certain that proof of the Higgs has been shown, and that it will become official within a few months, after further experiments confirm it's existence within the rigorous margin of error that is called for.

Article is here.

I'm no scientist.

In simpler terms, what does this mean for humanity?
 
I'm no scientist.

In simpler terms, what does this mean for humanity?

What is the Higgs boson and why is it important? - CNN.com
The Higgs boson is part of a theory first proposed by physicist Peter Higgs and others in the 1960s to explain how particles obtain mass.
The theory proposes that a so-called Higgs energy field exists everywhere in the universe. As particles zoom around in this field, they interact with and attract Higgs bosons, which cluster around the particles in varying numbers.

This is one step closer to a unified field theory..
 
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Do you think there's any way for it to be manipulated into a weapon?

Maybe change our existence, maybe? Seems pretty interesting.

As with much of modern physics, discoveries of this nature are likely decades from becoming practically useful, if anything can be done with it at all. Though, the Higgs Boson was never intended to be used, I believe. Finding it is simply the proof required for a theory that, if proven correct, helps to prove/disprove other theories about the universe, many of which could be used to our advantage during our lifetime, and many of which couldn't.

I doubt this discovery will directly prompt a useful invention. Perhaps discoveries made as a result of this discovery will, but not this one.
 
No one will care, just like on the day that we found another earthlike planet capable of supporting life people cared more that Anna Nicole Smith died.
 
No one will care, just like on the day that we found another earthlike planet capable of supporting life people cared more that Anna Nicole Smith died.

Sad but true. I'm very anxious to know more about that planet. [Was it in the Kerridan System?]
 
Unfortunately, I think besides curiosity the governments are always looking for ways to gain more control or power. Slamming particles together at the speed of light and creating the conditions that existed at the beginning of the universe somehow doesn't sound safe. They didn't know for sure in 1942 if the first atomic reactor or experiment was going to be a runaway chain reaction or explosion, in the middle of Chicago. I'm always afraid in the name of progress and not really knowing what they're fooling with that they're going to pull the string that holds the universe together and unravel the whole thing. But imagine if this leads to the ability to control matter and we could form another inhabitable planet. Who knows where the wild goose goes?
 
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With this God Particle I take it we won't have lightsabers anytime soon..

:sigh:
 
The popular nickname for the elusive particle was created for the title of a book by Nobel Prize winning physicist Leon Lederman -- reportedly against his will, as Lederman has said he wanted to call it the "Goddamn Particle" because "nobody could find the thing."

"'God particle' is a nickname I don't really like," says Archer. "It's nothing to do with religion -- the only (theoretical) similarity is you're seeing something that's a field that's everywhere, in all spaces."


That's interesting!
 
Unfortunately, I think besides curiosity the governments are always looking for ways to gain more control or power. Slamming particles together at the speed of light and creating the conditions that existed at the beginning of the universe somehow doesn't sound safe. They didn't know for sure in 1942 if the first atomic reactor or experiment was going to be a runaway chain reaction or explosion, in the middle of Chicago. I'm always afraid in the name of progress and not really knowing what they're fooling with that they're going to pull the string that holds the universe together and unravel the whole thing. But imagine if this leads to the ability to control matter and we could form another inhabitable planet. Who knows where the wild goose goes?

It's safe. There simply isn't enough material to cause major damage to anything. The gas line going into your house is vastly more dangerous than a particle accelerator.
 
I think you over-estimate our capability. We're so insignificant in the grand scheme of things it's difficult to even fathom.


Unfortunately, I think besides curiosity the governments are always looking for ways to gain more control or power. Slamming particles together at the speed of light and creating the conditions that existed at the beginning of the universe somehow doesn't sound safe. They didn't know for sure in 1942 if the first atomic reactor or experiment was going to be a runaway chain reaction or explosion, in the middle of Chicago. I'm always afraid in the name of progress and not really knowing what they're fooling with that they're going to pull the string that holds the universe together and unravel the whole thing. But imagine if this leads to the ability to control matter and we could form another inhabitable planet. Who knows where the wild goose goes?
 
I'm no scientist.

In simpler terms, what does this mean for humanity?

It's more knowledge. This is what humans do, we archive knowledge and use it to expand our technology. In general, if the Higgs is demonstrated real, it gives us better insight to the actual dynamics behind gravity. Gravity is relatively unknown and we don't even have a quantum explanation for it. This would nail down some of the dynamics behind mass and gravity and lead to an expanded understanding of one of the fundamental forces in nature.
 
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