Windrunner Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 So I just noticed on yahoo that scientists at CERN are expected to announce the discovery of the Higgs boson any day now. I'm no physicist, but it seems like finding the particle that gives mass to other particles is a pretty big deal to me. The scientists are being cautiously optimistic that they have found it. "I agree that any reasonable outside observer would say, 'It looks like a discovery,'" British theoretical physicist John Ellis, a professor at King's College London who has worked at CERN since the 1970s, told The Associated Press. "We've discovered something which is consistent with being a Higgs." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady_Yasha Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 You don't have to be a physicist to know that this will be a ground-breaking discovery It will essentially solidify the Standard Model which has, up to this day, remained a theory. The Higgs boson accounts for the gaps we're able to calculate mathematically based on empirical studies, but haven't been able to reproduce due to the vast quantities of energy required to make it visible. If it is discovered you can expect science to accelerate. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windrunner Posted July 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 Well that's exciting, especially considering the relationship between science and technology. Why does the discovery accelerate science? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady_Yasha Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 (edited) Because we'll finally be able to agree on the Standard Model as a whole and push out new, evolving ideas based on our empirical evidence. We could be developing technology that would never have been possible without knowledge of the inner structure of the universe. Look at what happened when the atom was discovered. If we unlock the mysteries of the particle that gives mass to everything we could be developing things like superconductors on massive scales. We could even manufacture stable and efficient plasma energy (there is one in the works at the moment involving a torus ring and electromagnetic fields). Edited July 2, 2012 by Lyrebon 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strawberry Eggs Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 The standard model will continue to a theory, even if the Higgs Boson is discovered. A theory in science is not a guess or an unproven idea. A theory summarizes a hypothesis or several related hypotheses supported by evidence. Several predictions in the form of particles in the standard model turned out to be true, but one, the Higgs Boson, was not. If it never turned up, it wouldn't completely invalidate the SM as the other particles have been found, but it would have to change. This recent news may make that unnecessary. Not much will come out of the Higgs Boson finally being observed at first, but it will lead to other discoveries and answer some questions. I don't know the details, as the specifics are well beyond my comprehension, but the Higgs Boson may aid in discovering why our universe has more matter than anti-matter. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eerongal Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 The standard model will continue to a theory, even if the Higgs Boson is discovered. A theory in science is not a guess or an unproven idea. A theory summarizes a hypothesis or several related hypotheses supported by evidence. Several predictions in the form of particles in the standard model turned out to be true, but one, the Higgs Boson, was not. If it never turned up, it wouldn't completely invalidate the SM as the other particles have been found, but it would have to change. This recent news may make that unnecessary. Not much will come out of the Higgs Boson finally being observed at first, but it will lead to other discoveries and answer some questions. I don't know the details, as the specifics are well beyond my comprehension, but the Higgs Boson may aid in discovering why our universe has more matter than anti-matter. Took the words right out of my mouth. Nothing ever really "stops" being a theory in science. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riddlesinthedark Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 The standard model will continue to a theory, even if the Higgs Boson is discovered. A theory in science is not a guess or an unproven idea. A theory summarizes a hypothesis or several related hypotheses supported by evidence. Several predictions in the form of particles in the standard model turned out to be true, but one, the Higgs Boson, was not. If it never turned up, it wouldn't completely invalidate the SM as the other particles have been found, but it would have to change. This recent news may make that unnecessary. Not much will come out of the Higgs Boson finally being observed at first, but it will lead to other discoveries and answer some questions. I don't know the details, as the specifics are well beyond my comprehension, but the Higgs Boson may aid in discovering why our universe has more matter than anti-matter. Yep, and you shouldn't have to be a philosopher to grasp the differences between theories and laws. If one remembers that science in its inherent nature falsifies things, and that the next thing science proves will be its first, you'll be of the right mind. Theories are the crowning jewel, things that have stood up many, many attempts at falsification. Next, the removal of dark matter/energy as simple placeholder values to explain the universe as we want it to work. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady_Yasha Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 Yep, and you shouldn't have to be a philosopher to grasp the differences between theories and laws. If one remembers that science in its inherent nature falsifies things, and that the next thing science proves will be its first, you'll be of the right mind. Theories are the crowning jewel, things that have stood up many, many attempts at falsification. Next, the removal of dark matter/energy as simple placeholder values to explain the universe as we want it to work. But... but... dark energy is awesome! In my quest to hope that superheroes could exist, the Darkforce is quickly becoming the last vestige of that hope. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamzin Ashevai Posted May 5, 2013 Report Share Posted May 5, 2013 Can I just say that I love Wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs-boson_particle Also, I remain intrigued with not just the science, but also in the implications of it. Just how that might translate in science fiction, we may already know! Imagine the possibilities! "One possible signature of a Higgs boson from a simulated collision between two protons. It decays almost immediately into two jets of hadrons and two electrons, visible as lines." There's more on-site to be read, of course. I'm not much of a theorist with regard to that which I read, but I love it when facts fit with that which I've read in fantasy, science and historical fiction (i.e.: my main three genres) nonetheless. Most often, I've not sought the truth to prove the possibility of the fantasy; I've just taken the fantastical as factual to the novel/series/epic and left it at that. However, the writing of Brandon Sanderson, his systems of magic, the connection between worlds in which he's written, the as-yet-to-be-determined unknowns have me contemplating subjects I never before did. In all honesty, I welcome this wholeheartedly! I've said it before and I'll say it again: Brandon's are the systems of magic that surpass all of which I've read before! So, maybe I didn't reply exactly to the discussion above, but I'm pleased to have stated that which I did ... just because it's me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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