back to article CERN catches a glimpse of Higgs-like boson

CERN boffins have finally hit paydirt with the Large Hadron Collider, finding a particle that is pretty much almost certainly the long sought-after Higgs boson. CMS event showing characteristics expected from the decay of the Higgs boson LOOK - THERE IT IS! IN THERE SOMEWHERE! Where before numerous findings of "strong …

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  1. Chris Hainey
    Mushroom

    What????

    Lester didn't get to give an alliterative rundown of events in the latest proton billiards experiment?

    Shame on you El Reg.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Paris Hilton

      Re: What????

      IF THEY WOULD HAVE BUILT THE BIG PRATICLE ACCELERATOR IN AMERICA OUR SCIENTISTS WOULD HAVE FIGURED THIS CRAP OUT A LONG TIME AGO AFTER ALL WE BUILT ALL OF THE GREAT INVENTIONS OF MANKIND LIKE THE H BOMB NERVE GAS NAPALM AND BEEF JERKY

      1. Danny 14

        Re: What????

        I know you are a troll and probably fat enough. You mean something like the tevatron at fermilab?

        1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
          Headmaster

          Beef jerky was a good invention. There is no reason to make fun of it. Edison tried to patent his beef jerky but IP communists blocked him from entering the patent shed.

      2. Graham Wilson
        Flame

        @Big Dumb Guy 555 -- -Re: What???? ...But the US didn't

        "IF THEY WOULD HAVE BUILT THE BIG PRATICLE ACCELERATOR IN AMERICA OUR SCIENTISTS WOULD HAVE FIGURED THIS CRAP OUT A LONG TIME AGO..."

        But the US did not. It started building the SSC, Superconducting Super Collider in Texas and it was supposed to be even bigger than the LHC, but it got cold feet and cancelled it about 1993--now all there is to show for it is a damn big hole in the ground.

        Reckon that was the turning point for the US, it's been downhill ever since. Too lousy to afford science anymore, lost interest in teaching science to kids, bugger-all funding for NASA, off-shoring of US industry to China and so on, and so on.

        Instead, the US prefers wars and invading countries, annoying the world community, tying up world trade in its favour, fucking up the copyright and patent system to the disadvantage of ordinary people, suing mothers and kids for copyright violation, violating international law (UN's resolutions on the US over Cuba etc.), diplomatic sleazebag tactics a la WikiLeaks and prosecuting/attempting to prosecute citizens of other countries who commit acts outside US jurisdiction which the US doesn't like.

        Over the last 30 years, the US has morphed from a progressive scientific and technological society, to a backward, conservative bully-boy who doesn't play by the rules.

        1. Francis Boyle Silver badge

          Re: @Big Dumb Guy 555 -- -What???? ...But the US didn't

          According to the episode of QI I watched last night the US has the solid support* of Palau on the Cuba thing so it's not like it's an international pariah or anything. . .

          *At least until the aid money runs out and the way things are going it'll probably run out soon. Twenty years ago the US thought it had won the Cold War. Twenty years on it's becoming clear that it was just that the USSR lost it first.

        2. Ian Michael Gumby
          Mushroom

          Re: @Big Dumb Guy 555 -- -What???? ...But the US didn't

          Poor Graham,

          Had you paid attention to the news, the guys at Fermilab had discovered more evidence from the data they collected years earlier.

          The SSC was halted for a couple of reasons. While I forget the list of reasons, the major one was cost. Considering that it took the entire EU, including the US to fund CERN, having the US go it alone, let alone any country, would have been cost prohibitive.

          If it wasn't for the research done at Fermilab, then it would still take some more time for the boffin's at CERN to find it.

          Please don't let the facts get in the way of a good rant.

          While you may not care much for US politics, need I remind you that much of the US's foreign policy is based on events starting back at lessons learned from post WWI and WWII. And speaking of bailing out allies, I seem to recall the US getting put in a bind during this thing in the Falklands where the US tried to remain neutral as both a member of NATO and OAS. Of course that didn't stop the US in supplying in flight refueling to their NATO allies since they lacked both long distance capabilities along with suitable warships and aircraft to do the job.

          But what do I know?

          BTW, I do agree with you. The US is no longer spending our tax dollars on basic science for the world's benefit. We're too busy funding this global agency that has no real value. Its called the UN.

          The Nuke Blast Icon because we still have enough stockpiled weapons to end life as we know it. A left over from the Cold War Europeans helped start.

  2. Filippo Silver badge

    Kudos for using the term "God particle" only once, and not in the title. I've seen other sites posting "GOD PARTICLE FOUND" with their comments sections swarmed by people who feel the need to say several variations on the theme "science is useless because God is unknowable". My desire of slapping them in the face is only mitigated by my desire of kicking the "a waste of money" crowd in the nuts.

    1. Dan 10
      Thumb Up

      Yep

      Checking Google news for this as soon as I logged on, the first link was for The Telegraph. This story is like a magnet for religious nuts!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @Filippo

      Couldn't agree more, although from a personal perspective even once is one time too many.

      1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
        Pint

        Re: @Filippo

        SNATCH PARTICLE FOUND!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: @Filippo

          I see what you did there ;-)

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      waste of money

    4. tath
      Facepalm

      goddamn...

      What's especially irritating is it was an editor that decided "the goddamn particle" (originally called such as it was 'goddamn difficult to find') was too risque and edited the "damn" out, thereby ensuring far worse offence, connotations and arguing would immediately ensue.

    5. stuartnz
      Thumb Up

      I love that the only reason Lederman used the phrase was because he couldn't use "Goddamn particle"

  3. Him over there

    While I wouldn't pretend to know a lot behind the science of this, it certainly is exciting and interesting, even from from a layman's point of view. I can only imagine how exciting it must be if you actually understand the complex science behind it all.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's not the messiah particle - just a very naughty boy particle

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Or, in plain English...

    We've now spent a gazillion (insert preferred currency here) and have finally achieved a level of certainty that warrants a further multigazillion investment !

    Maybe.

    1. localzuk Silver badge
      FAIL

      Re: Or, in plain English...

      Says the person typing that from a PC using technology developed by organisations who spent lots of money on experiments...

      1. Chris 3

        Re: Or, in plain English...

        And typing it on a medium devised by some geezer from Cern.

    2. Grey Area

      Re: Or, in plain English...

      Cern's budget is controlled via international treaty and has been for the last 60 years according to Prof Brian Cox. So no

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Prof Brian Cox

        Now there's someone deserving of a kick in the nuts

    3. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
      Boffin

      Re: Or, in plain English...

      Well, let's look into the cost question a bit closer, shall we?

      The latest figures I can find are that the LHC had cost 7.5 billion euros to June 2010. Let's assume that expenditure has been about steady for the two years since then, that will be a further billion euros to date, in round figures.

      That's over 17 years, and it is funded by "Europe", so for the sake of argument let's say 15 countries, to err on the conservative side.

      That gives an expenditure of 33.3 million euros per country per year. Which is an utterly trivial rounding error on the budgets of any one of those countries, and is certainly way outside of any definition of "gazillion" I have ever encountered.

      I just wish we could get such cooperative international funding applied to more scientific projects, personally.

      GJC

      1. ElNumbre
        Joke

        Re: Or, in plain English...

        Quote Geoff "That gives an expenditure of 33.3 million euros per country per year. Which is an utterly trivial rounding error on the budgets of any one of those countries, and is certainly way outside of any definition of "gazillion" I have ever encountered."

        Can we make Bob Diamond pay our share? He'd still have change left over.

      2. CCCP

        Re: Or, in plain English...

        You want projects more scientific than the HLC?? Man, you're not asking a lot then. Oh wait...

        1. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
          Happy

          Re: Or, in plain English...

          Well, we could start by dismantling the Higgs, now that we've found it.

          GJC

          1. Spoonsinger

            Re: Or, in plain English...

            "Well, we could start by dismantling the Higgs, now that we've found it.",

            I think you'll find that the whole basis of the experiment to find it, is the fact that it dismantles itself, and in doing so they can surmise that it might be there. Tiz a tricky thing to actually 'target' it in actuality for intentional dismantling.

            1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
              Coat

              Re: Or, in plain English...

              > "Expert Hydra Energetic Turbo Booster Moisturiser" for "men". Is it worth it?

              Only if you shave before application.

      3. Field Marshal Von Krakenfart

        Re: Or, in plain English...

        Only 7.5 billion yo-yos, that's about the same price as a Gerald R. Ford class aircraft carrier (9B USD).

        I suppose it's a question of priorities, furthering humanity through science or bombing third world countries.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Devil

          or bombing third world countries

          No reason why we can't do both is there?

      4. Barry Mahon
        Thumb Up

        Re: Or, in plain English...

        ....and compare that to what has been spent on the banks..... which would you suggest is better value for money?

      5. druck Silver badge

        Re: Or, in plain English...

        That's over 17 years, and it is funded by "Europe", so for the sake of argument let's say 15 countries, to err on the conservative side.

        It's funded by 20 countries, but the contributions are by no means equal. The top 3 contributors; Germany, Fance and Britain contribute over 50%, and the top 6 represent over 75%. See Cern 2010 budget.

    4. Richard Scratcher
      WTF?

      Re: Or, in plain English...

      The money spent on cosmetics in Europe per annum is around $60,000,000,000. And what have we got from it? "Expert Hydra Energetic Turbo Booster Moisturiser" for "men". Is it worth it? Lo'really?

      1. TeeCee Gold badge
        Joke

        Re: Or, in plain English...

        "Expert Hydra Energetic Turbo Booster Moisturiser" for men.

        Now available with Boson technology. Our Bosons penetrate the skin and individually stimulate cells to repair unsightly wrinkles.

        Liposome micro-capsules are sooooo five minutes ago.

  6. Crisp
    Coat

    They found the Higgs Boson?

    And as usual with these kind of things, it's always in the last place you look!

    1. alain williams Silver badge

      Re: They found the Higgs Boson?

      Are you saying that I should check down the back of my sofa - see if some of the critters are hiding there ?

      1. Lars Silver badge
        Coat

        Re: They found the Higgs Boson?

        I wonder who lost it, and why.

    2. Annihilator
      Go

      Re: They found the Higgs Boson?

      "And as usual with these kind of things, it's always in the last place you look!"

      I know it's a joke, but the biggest excitement is that it's in the first place they looked as it enhances the evidence for the standard model :-) They predicted mathematically that it would reveal itself at around 125GeV and built a huge machine to go off and look for it experimentally. A very proud day for physics!

      1. MyHeadIsSpinning

        Re: They found the Higgs Boson?

        I'm not sure that they did find it in the first place they looked, in fact I think that they've tried looking for it for a number of years and that they narrowed down the possibilities using a couple of different colliders before arriving at the result that they have.

        I think I may have read stories to that effect in the news recently in fact.

      2. Sigfried

        Re: They found the Higgs Boson?

        Actually, a 125 GeV Higgs is probably inconsistent with the "Standard Model" at high energies, implying that something further is required. It is however compatible with some of the "super-symmetric" theories. To reinforce the SM one probably needs a Higgs at 135 GeV or more.

        1. FartingHippo
          Go

          Re: They found the Higgs Boson?

          "a 125 GeV Higgs is probably inconsistent with the "Standard Model" at high energies, implying that something further is required"

          GOOD. Be a shame if everybody just packed up and went home.

    3. JetSetJim
      Coat

      Re: They found the Higgs Boson?

      >it's always in the last place you look!

      Of course it is, why would you keep looking once you've found it? Hence, whenever you find something, it's always in the last place you look.

      1. The First Dave
        Boffin

        Re: They found the Higgs Boson?

        Because when I've found it, it is generally hiding in a box full of stuff that I had completely forgotten about, so I keep looking at all the other stuff...

    4. Richard Scratcher
      Angel

      Re: They found the Higgs Boson?

      I've been praying to St Anthony that they'd find it.

    5. Andy Fletcher

      Re: They found the Higgs Boson?

      @ Crisp. Cue the smartarse response. It was predicted they'd find it at 125 GeV, and they did. So maybe they looked in some other spots, but it turned out to be exactly where it should be.

      Just goes to show it's best to start where something ought to be when hunting it.

      1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
        FAIL

        Re: They found the Higgs Boson?

        > It was predicted they'd find it at 125 GeV

        LOLNO. Where do you people get that stuff?

        As close as 11 August 2011:

        http://indico.cern.ch/materialDisplay.py?contribId=54&sessionId=13&materialId=slides&confId=141983

        "ATLAS and CMS exclude 145 to 460GeV together. Islands (e.g. 300) not formally excluded, but are

        close. Focus on 114-145GeV"

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    captain cynical

    the cats out the bag. the western world is crooked . gov and banks conspire to make the rest of the world poor. Better trot out the cern story again to try to balance things out.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: captain cynical

      This is to pathetic to simply downvote. Captain Cynical ? Oh I don't think so sport. I'm cynical, you're an idiot.

  8. Pete 2 Silver badge

    Be careful what you wish for

    So, presuming that CERN have spotted the Higgs. What's next?

    In the popular mind the only reason for the billions spent on the LHC was to find the Higgs (before the yanks did). If it turns out that the scientists there have achieved that goal, how will they justify to the public spending oodles more euros?

    Sure, from a scientific perspective, this is just one step down the path to enlightenment - but for yer avrige tabloid reader, how can they be sold the idea that there's still a lot more work to be done.

    Unlike the moon landings where public interest dwindled after the "been there, done that" box got ticked, I hope that CERN soon manage to discover another great problem that needs even more billions, or the supercooled LHC could become the world's fastest ice-rink. Whetever CERN do propose for ongoing research, they're going to have their work cut out trying to get a catchier (if equally spurious) name than The God Particle.

    1. ledmil
      Alien

      Re: Be careful what you wish for

      From what I've read this (potential) discovery was from an 8TeV collision. Later this year they are planning to upgrade LHC to allow collisions at it's design limit of 14TeV, so they can go further down the rabbit hole yet.

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