

CERN finally released the long awaited news, the greatest physics breakthrough in a very long time – the Higgs Boson has been observed (or at least a new particle which seems to correspond exactly with it).

If you haven’t heard of the Higgs Boson before, or if you’re unsure of what it is, this video is a great introduction to the topic. Basically, it is the particle which works as a layer of friction in the entire universe, causing all matter to have mass. It is the reason for gravity, more or less. (This is the particle that for some annoying reason often is referred to as ”the god particle” in the lay media.)

As just a short thoughts, I think it’s amazing to hear that (one of) the discoverer(s) of the Higgs Boson and its namesake, Peter Higgs, was still around to see this day. I have yet to see any video from the seminar, but judging by comments from those who were there he was extremely touched, and he himself never thought he would see the day in his lifetime. Seeing as the discovery of the Higgs Boson (notice the difference between discovery and observation by the way) was in the mid-1960’s, I had foolishly assumed that Higgs was long gone.

Read more! The live blogging from the seminar at Cosmic Variance; the press release from CERN.

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