Higgs boson buzz hits new heights

msnbc.com ^ | June 29, 2012 | Alan Boyle

[John W]

Has the Higgs boson finally been detected? It's almost gotten to the point that if a discovery of some sort doesn't come out of next week's update on the multibillion-dollar subatomic search, it'll be a big surprise. But how far will the announcement go, and what will it mean for the future of physics?

To refresh your memory, the Higgs boson is the only fundamental subatomic particle predicted by theory but not yet detected. It's thought to play a role in endowing some particles, such as the W and Z boson, with mass ... while leaving other particles, such as the photon, massless. The Higgs mechanism, proposed by British physicist Peter Higgs and others in the 1960s, could have played a role in electroweak symmetry breaking, which was a key event in the rise of the universe as we know it.

[Mercat]

I learned about it on The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon was playing Pictionary and could not understand why Penny didn’t guess it from his drawings. When she looked to Leanard for some sanity he said, “It’s all there.”

[Future Snake Eater]

We read this book in my AP Physics class in high school. Very interesting stuff, surprisingly easy to read.

[pingman]

Does this in any way validate Will’s Hyrdino theory?

[cripplecreek]

I personally think the key to faster than light travel, instantaneous communication, the true understanding of gravity are all in quantum physics.

[lack-of-trust]

it is all explained here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM

“The Large Hadron Rap”

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks John W. The Higgs won't be found per se -- but to save the Standard Model whatever winds up getting discovered instead will be called by the name. The SM altered in order to make this predicted piece -- which isn't actually the predicted piece -- fit better. Same thing happened to the the solar neutrinos when, after decades of nothing, something else was found with different characteristics, and an egregiously ad hoc explanation was cooked up.

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[Hardraade]

The Big Bang Theory is all wrong. Sheldon obviously meant *Higgs Bosom*.

[Future Snake Eater]

Quantum teleportation has already been accomplished (instantaneous communication) in lab settings across a 100+ mile distance.

[CPOSharky]

Sheldon doesn’t care about bosoms.

The character or the actor.

[the invisib1e hand]

Boson bump.

[Stosh]

“What is the Higgs Boson?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIg1Vh7uPyw&feature=related

[cripplecreek]

Quantum teleportation has already been accomplished (instantaneous communication) in lab settings across a 100+ mile distance.

The implications for use in space communications are enormous. After all, even the moon is some 1.3 light seconds away which isn't a huge distance but beyond that, instant communication would be a big leap. Gotta figure, the mars rovers move a few feet at a time for a reason. Instant communications would radically change the way even our robotic missions are conducted. Such instant communications may have saved many of the lost mars missions.

The New Horizons craft is a touch over 3 hours and 7 light minutes out (one way)

[onedoug]

Some source other than msnbc, please.

[John W]

Here is a link to the 33 articles that come up when you enter Higgs Boson into Google News search box.

http://news.google.com/news/story?q=Higgs+boson&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=I00&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvnsu&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1025&bih=458&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ncl=dHG42xa76iOIMsMp2fuf81Ufu76oM&sa=X&ei=IR7vT7ffGYX8qwH4t_H2AQ&ved=0CCwQqgIwAA

[Boogieman]

“The implications for use in space communications are enormous.”

Quantum physics dictates that tricks like quantum teleportation, entanglement, etc can’t transmit information faster than the speed of light.

[Boogieman]

I think you might be mistaken about that, since standard quantum teleportation experiments are not instantaneous at all.

[Mercat]

That was the nerdiest thing I have ever seen.

[Dr. Sivana]

[Future Snake Eater]

This was the experiment I was thinking of. Looks like it was 97km (about 60 miles), 1100 photons, and a four-hour period.

Maybe it's in the article and I'm not seeing it, but it doesn't seem to mention the instant data transmission as a result of the experiment, though it is listed as a benefit of quantum entanglement.