A while back, Sixty Symbols asked a bunch of physicists what they thought would happen if you were to place your hand in the particle beam at the LHC and… none of them knew. Now they’ve done some digging and found the answer.
The Higgs Boson is kind of a big deal. If it does exist, it could provide a key to unifying the standard and quantum models of physics. But what is a Higgs Boson, what does it do, and how does it work? With the help of this animated short, UCI physics professor Daniel Whiteson breaks down the basics of this mysterious particle (or is it a field?) in a way even your parents can understand.
The Higgs Boson still hasn’t made an appearance, but in an even more stunning discovery, apparently the Large Hadron Collider has been responsible for creating the new 2012 Range Rover Sport. That’s $US9 billion well spent right there.
This image wasn’t photoshopped. Ian Hobson created it using his drier machine and a modified laser projector. The result is how I imagine the Large Hadron Collider works deep inside — operated by Duck Dodgers, of the 24th and a half century.
Since it was opened in 2009, the LHC has been helping prove whether the Higgs boson exists or not. Scientists are not there yet, but they have just found the LHC’s first new particle: Chi-b 3P.
I prefer to call it The Force — a particle that “surrounds us and penetrates us” binding the galaxy together — but Czech physicist Luboš Motl makes a good case as to why the Higgs boson should be called the God Particle.
After much excitement, the Force has not been found. But don’t be sad, my fellow nerds. Scientists may have not found evidence of the Higgs boson yet, but they have discovered “tantalising hints” that may indicate its presence.
