July 03, 2012
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Higgs Boson has been found!
I know that I should probably not be doing this but I am too excited not to: I have it on very good authority from a prominent experimental physicist in the middle of the action that CERN will indeed be announcing the discovery of the Higgs Boson tomorrow in Geneva. Here is how my "Deep Throat" contact puts it:
It's 5 sigma more or less, and I am sure there will be some debate about the semantics of calling it a "discovery" or not but more or less it is a discovery...it's there! Probably the most boring and exciting moment in physics...
How confident am I in my confidant? Let's put it this way: if this turns out to be a "Dewey Defeats Truman" moment for 3QD, I will take on the responsibility of personally assassinating my source! :-) And, yes, I have permission from her/him to post this.
We will have much more about all this tomorrow I am sure. What an exciting moment!
Posted by S. Abbas Raza at 03:59 PM | Permalink
Comments
Abbas:
Well, now you are officially a fully-paid-up member of the inner circle of the scientific cognoscenti.
3QD scoops the rest of the scientific world! Amazing.
Posted by: Evert Cilliers aka Adam Ash | Jul 3, 2012 4:03:29 PM
Excuse me? "It's 5 sigma more or less..."(!)?
What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is it 5 sigma or not?
ACD
Posted by: A.C. Douglas | Jul 3, 2012 4:39:15 PM
On topic : whoopee! [I guess, haven't been following]
Off topic : 3QDB needs a new image header. The war/industrial/apocalyptic image is a wee bit depressing.
Posted by: shlarl | Jul 3, 2012 4:49:09 PM
Wait, wait, wait...you're saying Dewey didn't defeat Truman?
Posted by: Pepito | Jul 3, 2012 4:49:15 PM
Congratulations. Good scoop but what's next? How about an interview with this Higgs-Boson guy, seriously.
Posted by: Pete Chapman | Jul 3, 2012 5:01:42 PM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/03/higgs-boson-video-leaked-cern-discovery-particle_n_1647610.html
This has been up for an hour now!!!
Posted by: aquila ismail | Jul 3, 2012 5:44:49 PM
Exciting! Congratulations on the scoop Abbas, and I hope you don't have to kill anyone tomorrow :)
Posted by: Kris K. | Jul 3, 2012 7:17:11 PM
Hi,
This "new" discovery is no BigFDeal. I found one of these so-called "Higgs Bosons" while I was cleaning under my refrigerator over a year ago. I just didn't know where to turn it in at the time. By now I've lost track of it, but I'm sure it's still around here someplace.
And for what it's worth, these things are very fugly!
Have a nice day!
Antti
Posted by: Antti Nannimus | Jul 3, 2012 7:35:26 PM
Splendid "get," Abbas! Happy 4th!! xoxoxo
Posted by: Elatia Harris | Jul 3, 2012 7:53:40 PM
Congrats on the scoop Abbas! The Higgs discovery and the data may be the beginning of a new generation of Physics such as better explanations of dark matter and origins of the universe, discovery of graviton and who knows even endless supply of safe energy from ordinary matter.
Is the Higgs Boson related to the quark and if so, does that make us 4qd now?
Posted by: Raza | Jul 3, 2012 7:53:58 PM
Well I'm disappointed the world didn't end.
Posted by: Sagredo | Jul 3, 2012 7:54:08 PM
Ah, Higgs Boson is not a little boy but the origin of mass, not Mass, your Eminence. Sheesh!
Posted by: Dick Bruno | Jul 3, 2012 11:26:25 PM
Evidently this is just like a religion to Mr. Raza. He apparently believes what the high priests of physics say before they even officially say it. Evidently they can do no wrong. Although the true scientific method demands others check and verify their claims at different locations and times, this dictum means nothing to Mr. Raza. He unquestioningly accepts all he is told hook, line and sinker.
This sort of attitude is a perfect example of what science is not. True scientists don't throw out the time honored rules to promote a selfish pet theory. For all he knows this is the new "flat earth" belief of 2012. But he believes and promotes it to others as if it were a religion. Physics has long been a self regulatory body. Will this be the time when self regulation failed? Will this be the time when government regulation becomes necessary to compel physics to abide by the scientific laws and rules they purport to follow, or has this subject now become a virtual religion to them too all promoted via media propaganda?
Posted by: WJAbbe | Jul 3, 2012 11:32:45 PM
WJAbbe, whether the discovery pans out or not, you comprehensively missed the point.
Posted by: omar | Jul 3, 2012 11:45:06 PM
This article deserves a journalism prize simply for the sentence "How confident am I in my confidant?
Posted by: Rob Greens | Jul 4, 2012 2:54:15 AM
Happy Happy Joy Joy!
Yay!
Posted by: aditya | Jul 4, 2012 3:05:07 AM
Brava Abbas! Great scoop. Your confidant’s uncertain and elusive reaction is the interesting bit. It’s as if the Higgs Boson partially addresses an outdated assumption we had at the beginning of the scientific endeavor about physicality (confused now and forevermore w/ energy). I.e., there really isn’t a context (world-model, worldview) for this discovery so how is it a discovery, etc. Much of this parsing business to come, I bet.
Posted by: Christopher Holvenstot | Jul 4, 2012 6:01:19 AM
Thanks, Chris. Many physicists have felt that NOT finding it would have been more exciting and that its being where expected is a little boring, but there are already indications that there may be some surprises in store. For example, while live-blogging the seminar this morning from CERN, Sean Carroll had this to say:
10:21 am (Sean): "Crucial: the bump being seen is larger than expected! By a factor of two, approximately. Huge news. There isn’t a parameter in the Standard Model that you can tweak to explain that. It’s either a cruel fluctuation, or new physics."
Exciting physics will come out of this, I am sure.
Oh, and a minor correction: it should have been "Bravo"! :-)
Posted by: Abbas Raza | Jul 4, 2012 6:14:46 AM
Well, the announcement has been made now, and I am SOOOOOOO excited! Hooray for the universe!
Posted by: Higgs | Jul 4, 2012 7:36:09 AM
Excited for you Abbas. Now I have to Google this so I understand what all the fuss is about. Love.
Posted by: Tasnim | Jul 4, 2012 9:44:11 AM
Congratulations CERN & Hello Higgs Boson!
And a good job 3QD!
Posted by: TLW | Jul 4, 2012 5:48:16 PM
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