Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Hints of Higgs from the Large Hadron Collider

NASA ^ | December 18, 2011 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: Why do objects have mass? To help find out, Europe's CERN has built the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the most powerful particle accelerator yet created by humans. Since 2008, the LHC smashed protons into each other with unprecedented impact speeds. The LHC is exploring the leading explanation that mass arises from ordinary particles slogging through an otherwise invisible but pervasive field of virtual Higgs particles. Were high energy colliding particles to create real Higgs bosons, the Higgs mechanism for mass creation will be bolstered. Last week, two LHC groups reported on preliminary indications that the Higgs boson might exist around 120 GeV in mass. Data from the LHC collisions is also being scanned for micro black holes, magnetic monopoles, and explore the possibility that every type of fundamental particle we know about has a nearly invisible supersymmetric counterpart. You can help -- the LHC@Home project will allow anyone with a home computer to help LHC scientists search archived LHC data for these strange beasts. Pictured above, a person stands in front of the huge ATLAS detector, one of six detectors attached to the LHC.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit & Copyright: Maximilien Brice, CERN]

[SunkenCiv]

Follow-up from last night.

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[SunkenCiv]

For the first time since I picked up these duties, I didn't have any search and replace hits for links inside APoD. Ordinarily there are links in the day's APoD text to earlier APoDs. But anyway, this one is also going to the String Theory list. :') This pic looks like it was drawn by Giger.

join or quit list APoD 'blog post new APoD topic Astronomy Picture of the Day topic & keyword Astronomy Chat, Bloggers & keyword Science Chat, Bloggers & keyword NASA's APoD archive Calendar 1995-present APoD on your desktop

[SunkenCiv]

Particle physics is at a turning point [ Higgs boson and String Theory ]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2821813/posts

[blueunicorn6]

The LHC is the largest particle collider yet created by humans? I want to see the one created by cats. I’ll bet it has a ball of yarn. They know string theory, those cats.

[left that other site]

I think the bosons are just stringing us along.

[left that other site]

[brivette]

oh god (particle).

[Dumpster Baby]

Can you imagine how many boxes it would take to get that as a Heathkit?

:^)

[left that other site]

I like that picture so much, I am copying it to glue on my computer.

[blueunicorn6]

Well, her I am, expecting to see a photo of a gas cloud that looks like a chicken or something, and instead, all I see is a photo of the new french fry cooker at McDonalds.

[reagan_fanatic]

Yea, but the fries are HUMONGOUS!

[Rennes Templar]

Good memories....

[Quix]

Obviously some folks cannot be left alone with an Erector set nor a Leggo set.

I doubt they’d be safe even with Lincon Logs.

[DuncanWaring]

How many people here even recognize the word “Heathkit”?

[Las Vegas Ron]

How many people here even recognize the word “Heathkit”?

Got mine in 1971 ;0)

[dadgum]

I do. Am I ancient, or was I precocious?

[blueunicorn6]

Don’t super size the fries.

[Ole Okie]

Heathkits.

Good old days.

[DuncanWaring]

Probably both ;-)