Posted on 04/07/2008 8:05:12 PM PDT by rpage3
GENEVA (Reuters) - British physicist Peter Higgs said on Monday it should soon be possible to prove the existence of a force which gives mass to the universe and makes life possible -- as he first argued 40 years ago.
Higgs said he believes a particle named the "Higgs boson," which originates from the force, will be found when a vast particle collider at the CERN research centre on the Franco-Swiss border begins operating fully early next year.
"The likelihood is that the particle will show up pretty quickly ... I'm more than 90 percent certain that it will," Higgs told journalists.
The 78-year-old's original efforts in the early 1960s to explain why the force, dubbed the Higgs field, must exist were dismissed at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
Today, the existence of the invisible field is widely accepted by scientists, who believe it came into being milliseconds after the Big Bang created the universe some 15 billion years ago.
Finding the Higgs boson would prove this theory right.
CERN's new Large Hadron Collider (LHC) aims to simulate conditions at the time of that primeval inferno by smashing particles together at near light-speed and so unlock many secrets of the universe.
Higgs was in Geneva to visit CERN for the first time in 13 years in advance of the launch.
Scientists at the centre hope the process will produce clear signs of the boson, dubbed the "God particle" by some, to the displeasure of Higgs, an atheist.
He came up with his theory to explain why mass disappears as matter is broken down to its smallest constituent parts -- molecules, atoms and quarks.
BIG BANG
The normally media-shy physicist, who has spent most of his career at Scotland's Edinburgh University, postulated that matter was weightless at the exact moment of the Big Bang and then much of it promptly gained mass.
This, he argued, must be due to a field which stuck to particles as they passed through it and made them heavy. If this had not happened, matter would have floated free in space and stars and planets would never have formed.
Higgs said he hoped the elusive boson -- which an earlier but less powerful collider at CERN and another at the U.S. Fermilab had failed to detect -- would be identified before his 80th birthday in 2009.
"If it doesn't," he said, "I shall be very, very puzzled."
But there may be no immediate visible proof -- despite some fanciful portrayals of what it might look like -- of the boson's appearance on the ultra-sophisticated computers used by CERN scientists to track the billions of collisions in the LHC.
"It all happens so fast that the appearance of the boson may be hidden in the data collected, and it could take a long time for the analysis to find it," said Higgs.
"I may have to keep the champagne on ice for a while yet."
If they found the Higgs particle, it would be a really, really big deal!
I believe this field is called "gravity". Now, where's my Nobel prize?
bump
But the main thing that needs to be pointed out is that this new accelerator has cost a bazillion Euros to build, so of COURSE they’ll be suggesting that it may find God.
(In a particle, no less)
Otherwise they blow their cover.
A big deal that would just lead to more questions.
The larger the land of known, the greater the coastline of unknown.
And if they don’t find the Higgs particle, it will be an even bigger deal.
Very much agreed. I think they will find it from what I know. Hopefully, they'll find more.
May the Force be with you?
Obi-Wan Kenobi: The Force is an energy field. It surrounds us, penetrates us, it binds the Galaxy together.”
Or something to that effect. :)
Look out the window Mr. Higgs, do you see creation, every creation has a creator, and our Heavenly Creator is the one Who gives mass to the universe and makes live possible. I rest my case.
Most physicists dislike the term “God Particle” and don’t use it. However the MSM is infatuated with it and never miss an opportunity to us it.
So should we shut down all science and stare aimlessly out the window regarding every unanswered question?
The Higgs field and gravity are two different things though related in some way.
10 out of 10 rabbits say yes :P
Col 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
There’s your “boson” Mr. Higgs! Right there in verse 17. The Lord Jesus Christ created it all and He is holding it all together.
shucks, you beat me to it :-)
Lest there be any doubt I am not suggesting we are not the result of creation, I believe we are. But there are still many unanswered questions.
bkmark for later. Thanks
I don’t know about the Higgs Boson,
But I know where you can find some Huge Bison.
Alternate headline: “Old guy about to die is sure validity of life’s work will soon be confirmed”
Fair enough. I could quibble that God being nonmaterial doesn't give the universe mass, but no matter.
The question is, how, within physical terms, does God do it?
Nevermind...
That would be contrary to the command of God.
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and
fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of
the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.
May the Higgs boson be with you. Seriously, it would be impressive to find the gravity particle. A long time coming.
Hebrews 1: 2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power...
The part about "upholding all things" is very mysterious (like the 'God particle' being asserted here). It also contains the force we've been seeking -- the force that keeps the particles apart, giving space and mass to the objects in the universe, keeping all from collapsing in on itself. Quite remarkable, actually. The Apostle seems to have been given some rather sophisticated insight into it.
<}B^)
I worked on some of the data network requirements for this thingy. the first 20 minutes of operations should pump out enough data for a single man to read non-stop for the next 200 years.
On the other hand a Married man wouldn’t be allowed to read non-stop. He’d have to take 174500 years of 20 minutes on the john reading, getting hollered at just 10 minutes into it.
A couple more interesting articles written for laymen about the Large Hadron Collider:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331122534.htm
And these guys have an interesting theory on its potential.
Two men have theorized the Collider could destroy all life on earth (but not to worry it’s just a “small chance of annihilation of the planet”).
“Fight to save Earth from tiny black hole”
http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/fight-to-save-earth-from-tiny-black-hole/2008/04/01/1206850910851.html
” The Higgs Boson exists not” - Hoseya
So should we shut down all science and stare aimlessly out the window regarding every unanswered question?
You want the answers to questions? Look to the Word, it will answer all your questions.
Saying a Heavenly Creator created everything is avoiding the question.
It’s simply a matter of Faith. And about questions, truth will be unfolding to the believer throughout eternity.
The question is, how, within physical terms, does God do it?
Simple, He is God!
One would expect this effort to advance computational sciences almost as much as particle physics. FWIW I know plenty of grad students who would do it for a modicum of pizza and nice European beer...
Nobody's looking for a "particle of God." They're looking for the Higgs Boson. Try reading the article. "God particle" is a nickname that some journalists use to refer to the Higgs Boson. That's all. In the future, try reading articles before you go around calling people "morons."
The fact that God created a member of mankind who could build such a complicated machine is proof that He is there.
Huh?
“Into the Looking Glass” by John RIngo has a different take on the particle.
Part of the book is free to read on Baen Books.
Interesting man, John RIngo.
Oh Mighty Word, what is the cure for cancer? What is the speed of light? What is DNA?
Oh Mighty Word, what is the cure for cancer? What is the speed of light? What is DNA?
Oh, so now it's "something" collided with "something else" and exploded, turning into everything?
Where did those somethings come from in the middle of nothing? Even more fascinating, is how could TWO somethings be moving at incredible speeds in this endless nothingness?
What put them in motion, and more fascinating still,how did they manage against all infinity odds, to be on the exact same path and collide with each other, expoding and turning into everything?
""By the word of God the heavens were made, their whole array by the breath of his mouth...He spoke and it was created. He commanded and there it stood." (Ps.33:6-9).
Still seems to be the best explanation.
"Creation is maintained by God's rulings" (Ps.119:91)
The God particle.
“
Super Strings” “Quantum Physics” “Zero Point Field” etc etc - this guy should get out more
Faith in the Lord and following his word.
"Whatever you ask for in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son." (Jn.14:13).
"I tell you most solemnly, anything you ask for from the Father he will grant in my name...Ask and you will receive..." (Jn.16:23-24)
"He who obeys the command will come to no harm, and the wise man knows there will be a time of Judgment." (Ec.8:5)
"He who despises the word will destroy himself, he who respects the commandment will be safe." (Pr.13:11).
"Happy the man who cares for the poor and the weak: if disaster strikes, God will come to his help." (Ps.41:l).
Here's your cure for cancer:
"If one of you is ill, he should send for the elders of the church, and they must anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord and pray over him. The prayer of faith will save the sick man and the Lord will raise him up again; and if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. So confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, and this will cure you; the heartfelt prayer of a good man works very powerfully." (James 5:13).
"I don’t know about the Higgs Boson, ..."
hmmm - not sure about the Higgs Boson, either, but you might find the boson if you ask the Bosun's Mate.
;^D
I have family like that.
(but we keep trying to prove otherwise)
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