Comments on: 3 Things the Higgs Boson can teach you about physics

By: Don Lincoln

Don Lincoln — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 16:43:00 +0000

Don Lincoln also works with Joe Haley. Joe is pretty expert on these things.

By: Maggie Koerth-Baker

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 22:21:00 +0000

I’ve talked to Don Lincoln (who works on both CERN and Tevatron research) about this and have made some corrections. Thanks for pointing it out.

By: kickdemout

kickdemout — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:54:00 +0000

I just want to know at what distance (light years) is the light from these objects, emitted by objects that can’t possibly exist right now.

By: Maggie Koerth-Baker

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 23:34:00 +0000

Let me check this with my sources, guys. If they tell me your critique is correct, I’ll make the change.

By: jonjonz

jonjonz — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:17:00 +0000

the more these so called scientists spout more theory than factual objective reproducable evidence, the more they become advanced BS artists as found in the soft sciences like psychology etc.

By: AA

AA — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:52:00 +0000

I am not so sure if physicists like to be wrong or not…But coming out with a more definite answer about something like this is a big issue. I don’t know any physicists who like to make definite statements (maybe i am hanging out with the wrong bunch! :-D )….They are all like, “based on the evidence gathered so far”, or “it is more likely that…”, it’s not exactly black or white….and even this theory, in the light of even more data, might turn out incomplete…

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:27:00 +0000

It appears that you have never made a comment that didn’t include a link to your website. Please desist.

By: alephxero

alephxero — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:55:00 +0000

Thank you so much for this write-up, Maggie. Your article and Brian Greene’s post on another site a couple days ago (I lost the link to his) are shining examples of accessible, smart scientific writing for all of us interested laypeople.

By: sgtdoom

sgtdoom — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 01:48:00 +0000

Although if another event should occur, and Geneva mysteriously disappears one day, you might refrain from mentioning this to Mr. Higgs, as you may find him sensitive to the matter.

Great explanatory piece, Ms. Koerth-Baker, how about an article on Bell’s Theorem sometime……

By: scallywag

scallywag — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 01:01:00 +0000

Either way one can suppose this week’s events will engender the belief in God or repudiate it, which is the great irony of science, as much as it seeks to dispel the notion of supernatural forces at work it ultimately forces one to wonder if that is ultimately what is at work, thus bringing science and the idea of God closer together as much as science may wish to dispense with it.

http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2011/12/higgs-boson-is-this-evidence-of-the-god-particle-weve-all-been-waiting-for/

By: JohnBerry

JohnBerry — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:27:00 +0000

Being born in the when I was has put me in the front row for some exciting scientific discoveries/research. What a great time to be alive!

By: JohnBerry

JohnBerry — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:25:00 +0000

Yeah, what he said!

By: Don Lincoln

Don Lincoln — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:33:00 +0000

This was an accessible and insightful piece of science reporting as I have seen. Kudos!

By: Don Lincoln

Don Lincoln — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:32:00 +0000

Actually it’s quite simple. The Higgs boson decays before it can move a distance much, much, much smaller than an atom. The detector doesn’t even start until more than an inch from the creation point. The Higgs boson simply doesn’t reach the detector.

By: Maggie Koerth-Baker

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:15:00 +0000

If/when you get this opportunity, please take a photo of the event.

By: thedragontrack

thedragontrack — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:55:00 +0000

And this is why Maggie is one of *my* favourite science writers. Cheers Maggie!

By: lorq

lorq — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:27:00 +0000

Here’s a simple question with a no-doubt impossibly technical answer: Why can’t the Higgs Boson be seen directly, but only through the products of its decay?

By: Joe Haley

Joe Haley — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:18:00 +0000

I was going to make this same point.

Maggie, can you please correct the article to fix this error?

Thanks.

By: Orkney Mutant

Orkney Mutant — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:02:00 +0000

Peter Higgs is a regular at the cafe I work in. Saying congrats to him if/when this sucker hits sigma-5 will make the ultimate nerdectode.

By: D. Keith Higgs

D. Keith Higgs — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:36:00 +0000

This is a BRILLIANT piece of writing! It actually makes impressive strides to make quantum particle physics accessible to 8 yr old kids!

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:22:00 +0000

One correction: Tevatron wasn’t sensitive to a 125 GeV Standard Model Higgs. So they didn’t see it because they didn’t have enough data, not because they missed it. There is no inconsistency between the two measurements at this time.

The blog you point to says as much in the plot he shows, but he draws the wrong conclusion from the plot (“where they have good reach”).

By: Rich Keller

Rich Keller — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:18:00 +0000

I new the search was on, but I hadn’t understood what the Higgs Boson was up to until I read this. Now I have a tentative grasp, maybe.

Trying to understand physics on this scale is as much fun as reading the wierdest fiction.

By: Stefing

Stefing — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:36:00 +0000

Excellent piece!
I was at the Uncaged Monkeys show in London last night and Professor Brian Cox gave an excellent talk about the Higgs, showed a lovely slide which quite possibly shows its existence and had a live talk with the guys at Cern.
The fact that it packed out a large theatre is testament to the great work he’s doing in opening up science.

By: ROSSINDETROIT

ROSSINDETROIT — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:34:00 +0000

Mass = energy for some purposes. The more massive a particle the more energy it takes to investigate it. And producing that energy is incredibly difficult and expensive.

By: ROSSINDETROIT

ROSSINDETROIT — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:30:00 +0000

Another good blog on particle physics: Matt Strassler’s Of Particular Significance. http://profmattstrassler.com/

By: Jim Saul

Jim Saul — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:23:00 +0000

Oh, that density variation in the Higgs field would be called “gravity” wouldn’t it?

D’oh.

By: Jim Saul

Jim Saul — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:18:00 +0000

Excellent explanation!

Is the Higgs field uniform, or might its density vary? If it has a non-uniform density, that would imply that other particles would appear to have different masses in different parts of the field, which seems unlikely.

On the other hand, (ether hand?) if the LHC can interact enough with one to detect it, the boson should likewise feel the impact.

By: Robert Baruch

Robert Baruch — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:11:00 +0000

Well, this guy could have the next Time Cube. Then who'd be laughing? Oh, wait.

By: Jim Saul

Jim Saul — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:10:00 +0000

Your comment is almost like a written version of glossolalia.
Pastalalia?

By: Maggie Koerth-Baker

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:07:00 +0000

Don’t forget about the panther poop!