There’s nothing like a wager between friends. Especially if those two friends are some of the greatest minds the world has ever seen and the bet is over whether or not their colleagues will make one of the greatest ever discoveries in particle physics.
Stephen Hawking told the BBC overnight that Peter Higgs deserves a Nobel prize for the discovery of the particle bearing his namesake.
Despite the gravity of the discovery, Hawking admitted that he never thought that CERN would find the Higgs.
“I had a bet with Gordon Cain of Michigan University, that the Higgs particle wouldn’t be found. It seems I have just lost $100,” Hawking says with a smile.
Those wiley particle physicists sure know how to have a good time. [BBC]