Found: Higgs Boson

[oakeshott]

If correct, this is supposed to be huge news. Anyone on this board qualified to explain why that is to us non-physics types? Also, is this more definite than those faster than light neutrinos from earlier in the year that turned out to be the result of a loose cable?

Finally, does anyone have a good Higgs Boson joke yet?

 

[ouch]

Lost: One Higgs Boson, Grand Central Terminal, NYC, 7/12
Reward $50.

 

[little Big feather]

I didn't know it was lost!
When I got through with it, I put it back in the closet.

 

[MrDentini]

I thought Boson was Mr Higgs' dog.

http://videoandvideo.altervista.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/cane_con_occhiali.jpg

 

[Gruder]

It's always in the last place you look.

 

[MrDentini]

It's always in the last place you look.

yeah because when you find it you stop searching.

 

[EricAT]

I get a kick out of the reporting on the whole higgs boson thing as most of the media has no idea what it is just that a ton of money (over 9 billion) has been spent trying to prove it exist. I did take some chemistry and physics (basic physics) in college and find most of the coverage laughable.
Why spend billions of dollars and centuries of man power to find it? I'm no physicist but my understanding is that it was the last piece of the puzzle of how all the tiny parts of an atom come together to create protons, neutrons and electrons and most importantly how these interact to create mass. So with the discovery of the Higgs boson we now have a provable theory on how mass is created.
Don't get too exited yet though while a mass has been discovered that likely is the Higgs Boson they still need to study it more to determine its characteristics match that of a boson.

 

[Pebcak]

I get a kick out of the reporting on the whole higgs boson thing as most of the media has no idea what it is just that a ton of money (over 9 billion) has been spent trying to prove it exist.

I don't mind the media coverage. I'd rather they spend the time covering this and trying to explain it in words even I can understand then the latest moronic thing that Snooky said. Who knows maybe some kid will see it and get excited and decide to be a scientist rather then wanting to get the latest thing some talking head is flogging.

 

[Kentos]

I thought evidence was found "suggesting" that they exist. Same way Aristotle found evidence pointing to adding water to dirt created eels IMO.

The older I get, the more I realize that as science tries to explain the increasingly complex unknown, a lot of faith needs to be placed in "facts" that are proven only on a piece of paper, rather through tangible things.

I consider myself a creavolutionist

 

[mikeschu]

Finally, does anyone have a good Higgs Boson joke yet?

From twitter (not mine):

A Higgs Boson walks into church but the priest tells it to bugger off. The Higgs-Boson replies “You can't have mass without me!"

 

[cb91710]

I don't mind the media coverage. I'd rather they spend the time covering this and trying to explain it in words even I can understand then the latest moronic thing that Snooky said. Who knows maybe some kid will see it and get excited and decide to be a scientist rather then wanting to get the latest thing some talking head is flogging.

Except....

I've worked with traffic signals for the last 20 years.
I have refused ALL media interviews for the last 10 years.
Why?

They get it wrong.
The reporter has no idea what you're saying.
The editor has no idea what the reporter turned in.
The editor needs a 10 second soundbyte and 20 second airtime segment.

A 45 minute event that could be a learning experience for the reporter ends up being not even CLOSE to reality... it may as well be something Snooky said.

A recent interview with a traffic engineer from New York revealed an admission that pedestrian pushbuttons in NY are not connected and the signals cycle automatically.
The anchor then went on to say that NO pushbuttons in the US were connected "and you can take that to the bank"!
Really? That's going to get someone killed. Maybe not in New York, but in California, every button that is installed IS connected. The controller may or may not be programmed to bring up a "Walk" without the button, and that programming may vary by time of day (my city recalls downtown shopping areas from 9 to 7, but goes back to responsive overnight), but what you can "take to the bank" is if you don't press the button, at least 50% of the time you will not get a "Walk" and if there's only one or two cars, you'll likely have only 4-8 seconds to cross.

A friend who has been on TV on COPS says that every time he sees the shows he's been on, he has trouble remembering the incident. He remembers the cameras and crew, but the segments are so edited that they bear no resemblance to what actually happened, and if he did not see himself on screen he would not believe that he had been involved in the incident.
I used to chat with Lucy Jones, Richard Stead, and a couple other CalTech people on the old UUCP frequently after the Whittier Narrows quake. Lucy has now become the media's go-to person, and there are things I see her saying on TV that are the polar opposites of what she actually believes... it's all in the editing.



Now... if the media can't handle a simple earthquake idea, or something as simple as crossing the street safely, how are they going to handle something that the greatest minds in history have spent lifetimes understanding?

 

[little Big feather]

I know matter exists....It's alllll around me !
I don't need to know all the science behind a flushing toilet.....I just need it to go down. IMHO

 

[itsmedave]

I saw one of these in an antique shop in Oak Ridge, TN but they wanted too much for it so I passed on it.

 

[Nils]

My understanding of advanced physics is limited, but it's enough to know that this is (if it is indeed the Higgs Boson) a great day for science. I for one am pretty excited.

 

[blary54]

This is an easy to read article explaining why this find is important.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/04/us-science-higgs-explanation-idUSBRE86306W20120704

 

[noahpictures]

My understanding of advanced physics is limited, but it's enough to know that this is (if it is indeed the Higgs Boson) a great day for science. I for one am pretty excited.

+1

What the higgs going on in there?

 

[Cannata]

Stephen Hawking said that he lost a hundred dollar bet over the discovery of the Higgs bson.

Steve

 

[SalvadorMontenegro]

Same way Aristotle found evidence pointing to adding water to dirt created eels IMO.

Hey, man, come on. Too soon. Too soon.

 

[oakeshott]

From twitter (not mine):

A Higgs Boson walks into church but the priest tells it to bugger off. The Higgs-Boson replies “You can't have mass without me!"

That was good. Thank you. I'll be using it all day tomorrow at work. Most of my colleagues are engineers and dig this sort of humor.

 

[kirill]

I thought evidence was found "suggesting" that they exist. Same way Aristotle found evidence pointing to adding water to dirt created eels IMO.

The older I get, the more I realize that as science tries to explain the increasingly complex unknown, a lot of faith needs to be placed in "facts" that are proven only on a piece of paper, rather through tangible things.

I consider myself a creavolutionist

I think that what you describe, on paper proofs rather than tangible ones, are unavoidable when probing things which are as basic to physics as the Higgs Boson is said to be, I certainly couldn't think of a way to tangibly demonstrate the existence of the Higgs Boson. There's no alternative though, and the lack of a more clear cut proof certainly shouldn't deter us from trying to advance our knowledge of the universe.

That said, this isn't a question of faith, any statement made is a result of rigorous scientific tests, and the evidence is there, though I myself wouldn't understand the raw data. They found something, what was it, 99.994% similar to the proposed Higgs Boson, and they still wish to put in further study before confirming that it is, in fact, the Higgs Boson. Certainly not leaping to conclusions like Aristotle. Faith isn't a concept in modern science, logical derivations are, and should the rest of the studies pan out, then the Higgs Boson's role in mass will be as common knowledge to future generations as gravity is to ours.

I apologize if that was a bit much, or if I'm being rude, it wasn't directed only at you, I just truly believe that proper science and scientific exploration are one of the few things that's right with the world now, something that should be encouraged and understood.