I don't really have anything more to ad. (GQ)

Read More

After almost a year of suspense as physicists at CERN sifted through figures, parsed data, and double and triple checked their math, this morning saw the team behind the discovery of the Higgs boson finally confident enough to officially announce to the world that they had, in fact, really found a Higgs boson. The only thing that's uncertain now is which Higgs boson they've found, because come on, it wouldn't really be physics without at least one question left unanswered.

Read More

The scientific community got pretty excited with the discovery of a Higgs-like particle last year, but it turns out it's not all smiles and high fives. Apparently the Higgs boson was the missing piece in a subatomic calculation that could predict a Universe-ending catastrophic event in the future. How worried should you be? Depends on how many billions of years into the future you've made plans, but chances are pretty solid that you'll be long dead before this happens. So will the Earth. Smile! Everything ends!

Read More

There might be a time when I get sick of Symphony of Science's videos featuring scientists grooving out in all their autotuned glory, but it's not here yet. Their latest video, called "The Face of Creation," is about one of the year's biggest scientific (probable) discoveries: The Higgs boson. Join me in raising a glass of imaginary wine to whatever it is scientists end up discovering in 2013. My fingers are crossed, as always, for aliens. (via: I Heart Chaos) Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?

Read More

Last month we showed you a trailer for Decay, a film being made by Luke Thompson and Clara Nellist, both Ph.D. students in physics. They filmed it at CERN, which you may know is home to the Large Hadron Collider, and it the plot involves the Higgs Boson particle turning people into zombies. If that doesn't sell you, I don't know what will. You can find out more information at DecayFilm.com but now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the feature. (via io9) Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?

Read More

The opening ceremony for the 2012 Paralympic Games was held last night in London and included references to some very important scientific discoveries. This ranged from the Big Bang to what was apparently a representation of the recent discovery of what many are calling the Higgs boson particle. It's a bit hard to tell, though, given that the elusive particle was apparently represented by a bunch of silver umbrellas.

Read More

It might seem preposterous, but the first photo on the World Wide Web wasn't a cat meme -- it was an ensemble shot of Les Horribles Cernettes, a comedy band based at the CERN laboratory near Geneva. Let that sink in for a moment. Hit the jump to hear more about how the web's very first photo anticipated poorly photoshopped Myspace and Facebook group profile pics by about 20 years!

Read More

At this point, you must know that the Higgs Boson has been found, and you might even know what that means, but do you know what the Higgs Boson sounds like? Well now you can, thanks to Domenico Vicinanza, who immediately set to sonifying the ATLAS data on the new particle. The tune is surprisingly catchy and listenable, although it's immediately obvious it was not generated by any sort of being with an ear for melody. Think of it as an ode to science.

Read More

At this point, you probably know that yesterday, we found the Higgs Boson (or at least a particle that looks an awful lot like it's the Higgs Boson). You probably don't know exactly what that means, in the grand scheme of things. Fortunately, a timely little short from MinutePhysics sums up the whole situation nicely, and will tell you everything you need to know if you want to use your newly-gained knowledge of particle physics to wow your friends. You could probably just make stuff up, but this way is probably a little bit better.

Read More

Yesterday's announcement that CERN discovered a "Higgs-like" particle will surely be one of the most talked about scientific discoveries of the age. For most physicists, it means exploring a new channel of particle physics. However, for famed scientists Stephen Hawking, it meant something far more personal: Losing a $100 bet with University of Michigan physicist Godon Kane.

Read More

But this is just noted sharpie-wielding math and science expert Vihart's take on CERN's announcement that they've found, to within 99.9999% sureity, a new type of boson. And that that new particle, so far as we can tell (pending more research), conforms to the theoretical qualities of a Higgs boson. You might also be interested in knowing a bit more about what a Higgs boson is, and why it's important. For that, we can go to Jorge Cham's, of PHD Comics, cartoon rendering of a scientist's explanation:

Read More

After keeping the physics world on pins and needles for days, scientists working with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN announced that they had discovered a particle which appeared to fit the profile of the long-sought Higgs boson. Though this is a celebratory moment, CERN researchers stress that there is still much to learn about this new "Higgs-like" particle.

Read More

Well, this is strange. According to several news outlets, a video was accidentally posted to the CERN website and featured an announcement that the Large Hadron Collider had indeed discovered a new particle. Now things get stranger: CERN's press office says that not only was this never meant to be posted online, but is one of many videos produced in anticipation of different outcomes.

Read More

At this point, those of us on the Internet are pretty used to non-news coming out of the Higgs boson hunt at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. It usually fits the same pattern: We found something interesting, but still haven't found the Higgs boson, see you next year. However, this week's press conference is reported to have the Higgs boson's namesake in attendance. Things just got interesting.

Read More

The Large Hadron Collider, one of the key tools being used in the search for the Higgs Boson, has found its first new particle since being put into operation back in 2009. No, it's not the Higgs boson. The new particle is Chi_b (3P), a more excited state of the Chi particles we already knew existed. New kid on the block Chi_b (3P) should help researchers develop a more complete understanding of the strong nuclear force and to fill in the holes in the Standard Model in general; there are still a lot of holes in the Standard Model.

Read More

The most exciting quest in modern physics has been the search for the Higgs boson, a hypothetical particle thought to be responsible for imbuing matter with mass. Today, scientists working on experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider called CMS and ATLAS have said that while a major breakthrough is still in the offing, they've made tremendous progress in the search for what some call the "God particle."

Read More

Did you know that scientists sometimes do things other than science? That they don't always just pipette things all day, or sit with computer readouts projected improbably across their faces? Sometimes they write songs. And sometimes they get together in four part harmony and sing those songs. And with roughly eight thousand scientists working at the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator to draw from it's actually not at all surprising that they managed to find enough talented people to rewrite an old satirical song to be about the poor scientists who labor in search of the Higgs Boson. Video below, natch.

Read More