CERN Update: New Boson Observed with 4.9 Sigma Accuracy!

[smiggy]

Guardian Live Blog of the conference here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/bl...ative#block-25

9.44am: Rolf Heuer, Director General of CERN, offers this verdict:
As a layman I would say: I think we have it. You agree?

Highly likey it is the Higgs-Boson, great achievement for the staff at CERN. Really happy Peter Higgs who is now 83 has lived to see this moment as well. On with the Standard Model then, it seems.

[Wrath]

Okay...

And that helps us how exactly?

[Fijiandoce]

professor Hawking just lost $100

hopefully its not another error like the last time....

now, the hard part. Gravity should be a walk in the park.

[smiggy]

Okay...

And that helps us how exactly?

Would confirm the 50 year theory of Peter Higgs on how particles have mass and how they interact with space. It helps confirm another part of our understanding of the Standard Model of Physics. It helps us understand the fundamental forces present 1 billionth of a second after the big bang.

[Wrath]

Would confirm the 50 year theory of Peter Higgs on how particles have mass and how they interact with space. It helps confirm another part of our understanding of the Standard Model of Physics. It helps us understand the fundamental forces present 1 billionth of a second after the big bang.

The big bang still happens to be a theory and a theory only. No matter how hard you science guys try to explain the origin of the universe, you won't be able to. Ever.

Sorry, this just needed to be said.

Back on topic then.

[Fijiandoce]

The big bang still happens to be a theory and a theory only. No matter how hard you science guys try to explain the origin of the universe, you won't be able to. Ever.

Sorry, this just needed to be said.

Back on topic then.

atoms are a theory as well..... yet these are proven and accepted.

[smiggy]

The big bang still happens to be a theory and a theory only. No matter how hard you science guys try to explain the origin of the universe, you won't be able to. Ever.

Sorry, this just needed to be said.

Back on topic then.

First of all, I don't think theory means what you think it means. This is a scientific theory.

A scientific theory is "a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observationand experiment."

Facts. This is not nonsense someone has pulled out of the air. We observe facts then come up with logical explanations for them. This is scientific theory.

Second his has nothing to do with the origin of the universe, only why the particles that came as a result of that had mass and others don't.

[jinsoo]

The big bang still happens to be a theory and a theory only. No matter how hard you science guys try to explain the origin of the universe, you won't be able to. Ever.

Sorry, this just needed to be said.

Back on topic then.

That whole Earth being round thing? Just a theory.

That whole gravity keeps us from floating away into space? Just a theory.

Last time I checked I will neither walk off the face of the Earth nor will I float off into space.

Back on topic then.

Finding the Higgs Boson is akin to finding the "missing link." Just goes to validate what they've been doing for the past fifty-ish years.

[Cyklops]

The big bang still happens to be a theory and a theory only. No matter how hard you science guys try to explain the origin of the universe, you won't be able to. Ever.

Sorry, this just needed to be said.

Back on topic then.

Gravity's also just a theory, mate. Doesn't mean we are flying and floating in space, are we now?

Back on topic, this is an amazing time to be young people! We are literally on the cusp of a new scientific age. FUCK YEA SCIENCE!

[TRF]

Science is amazing. So lemme get this straight: these Higgs bosons are the source of matter in the universe?

But you know what I love about science? Politicians and religious leaders an just people in general talk and talk and talk about nothing, but science? Science is there, and the true knowledge and advancement that comes with it is comforting, if that makes any sense.


Tapatalking from my bed. Ya mutha says hi.

[Fijiandoce]

Science is amazing. So lemme get this straight: these Higgs bosons are the source of matter in the universe?

in a way....its more accurately described as giving mass to matter

[Xelios]

The big bang still happens to be a theory and a theory only. No matter how hard you science guys try to explain the origin of the universe, you won't be able to. Ever.

Sorry, this just needed to be said.

Back on topic then.

Gravity is a theory.

You telling me you don't believe in gravity?

EDIT: Cyklops beat me. Well done good chap.

[THUGGEDOUT]

"One particle of unobtainium has a nuclear reaction with the flux capacitor - carry the '2' - changing its atomic isotoner into a radioactive spider. Fuck you, Science!"

[Wrath]

That whole Earth being round thing? Just a theory.

That whole gravity keeps us from floating away into space? Just a theory.

Last time I checked I will neither walk off the face of the Earth nor will I float off into space.

Back on topic then.

Finding the Higgs Boson is akin to finding the "missing link." Just goes to validate what they've been doing for the past fifty-ish years.

That "round earth thingy" is not a theory but a fact because we can actually SEE that it's round.

Gravity is not a theory anymore either because we don't float through space but fall back on the ground when we jump.

Hell, dinosaurs are also not a theory because we found actual bones that tell us about their past.

However, the universe being created by the Big Bang can only be ASSUMED by scientists because there is no concrete evidence, even if such assumptions seem to be logical. An assumption with no actual evidence does not equal fact though. Just lots of little details pointing towards that direction.

[smiggy]

That "round earth thingy" is not a theory but a fact because we can actually SEE that it's round.

Gravity is not a theory anymore either because we don't float through space but fall back on the ground when we jump.

Hell, dinosaurs are also not a theory because we found actual bones that tell us about their past.

However, the universe being created by the Big Bang can only be ASSUMED by scientists, even if such assumptions seem to be logical. An assumption with no actual evidence does not equal fact though. Just lots of little details pointing towards that direction.

Holy shit, am i reading this right?

You're saying the reason those are not theories is because of this evidence and that evidence. Then you dismiss the evidence for the big bang and claim it's all assumption?

[Xelios]

That "round earth thingy" is not a theory but a fact because we can actually SEE that it's round.

Gravity is not a theory anymore either because we don't float through space but fall back on the ground when we jump.

Hell, dinosaurs are also not a theory because we found actual bones that tell us about their past.

However, the universe being created by the Big Bang can only be ASSUMED by scientists because there is no concrete evidence, even if such assumptions seem to be logical. An assumption with no actual evidence does not equal fact though. Just lots of little details pointing towards that direction.

Theory of general relativity.

THEORY of general relativity.

Seriously.

Tell me when its the LAW of general relativity.

[Blacksite]

The big bang still happens to be a theory and a theory only. No matter how hard you science guys try to explain the origin of the universe, you won't be able to. Ever.

Sorry, this just needed to be said.

Back on topic then.

That's funny, because you've made it clear that you're not one of "the science guys". What right do you have coming into this thread questioning the importance of such discoveries? It may not help you but it helps others.

[Wrath]

Oh well, I guess I'm at the wrong place here.

[Rapture]

Hurray for technology and science!

The big bang still happens to be a theory and a theory only. No matter how hard you science guys try to explain the origin of the universe, you won't be able to. Ever.

Sorry, this just needed to be said.

Back on topic then.

That's not the point here. Besides, the Big Bang has overtly solid evidence for taking place. For one the Universe is observed to be expanding at a (slowing) rate, and when calculated backwards it tell us that all matter of the Universe was compressed into a single point or area roughly 20+ or so billion years ago. This is loosely coined as the 'smoking gun' observation. There are also 'shockwaves' of radiation, but I admit I'm not entirely familiar with that one yet.

Oh well, I guess I'm at the wrong place here.

I don't understand why. Just appreciate what knowledge these scientists are, if slowly, uncovering about our universe.

[DreDayDetox]

The big bang still happens to be a theory and a theory only. No matter how hard you science guys try to explain the origin of the universe, you won't be able to. Ever.

Sorry, this just needed to be said.

Back on topic then.

Just like you religious guys will never be able to explain God and why water turned into wine. Ever.

See, two can play at this game.

and I didn't really mean what I just said. But I do believe in revenge, an eye for an eye, so to speak.

[John25]

Will this make Professor Langdon a believer now that the *God Particle* has been found :P

[DreDayDetox]

Yes, we will have Angels & Demons sequel or reboot where he is the villain lol.

[Wrath]

That's not the point here. Besides, the Big Bang has overtly solid evidence for taking place. For one the Universe is observed to be expanding at a (slowing) rate, and when calculated backwards it tell us that all matter of the Universe was compressed into a single point or area roughly 20+ or so billion years ago. This is loosely coined as the 'smoking gun' observation. There are also 'shockwaves' of radiation, but I admit I'm not entirely familiar with that one yet.

But if it was all compressed into a single point, what was around that point? I mean, is there anything like "nothingness" out there?

[Rapture]

People should keep in mind that this is technically not confirmed as the higgs boson. It could be another particle with overtly similar traits of the higgs boson when under observation. However, if it is the higgs boson (it very likely is) then this will help confirm a part of the quantum field theory, which is key in undertaking how the infrastructure of reality works. As well, it may lead to scientists discovering what and how a photon works within our lifetime. For those who do not know, a photon exhibits the traits of both a particle and a wave, but it functions purely as a particle when under observation.

But if it was all compressed into a single point, what was around that point? I mean, is there anything like "nothingness" out there?

Last I've read, there was was 'nothing' around it. Many laws of physics weren't even at play. With its sudden inflation, spacetime was born.

[Wrath]

Last I've read, there was was 'nothing' around it. Many laws of physics weren't even at play. With its sudden inflation, spacetime was born.

And how can one imagine the concept of "nothing"?