Geo-Science Writer
An exciting news from CERN on the discovery of a new sub-atomic particle, Higgs Boson, has been shaking the world today. If you are not familiar with the Higgs particle, see the Youtube video above, or read the following article from Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/higgs-boson
In the video below, a journalist at the CERN's press-conference room bravely and humbly confessed that he, as one of "lay journalists", does not understand what Higgs Boson is, even though he has already called it God Particle (Note: The words God Particle was used in Dan Brown's novel and the movie, Angels and Demons, to refer to anti-matter, NOT Higgs Boson).
Well, I am glad to hear the news of this discovery (though more test experiments need to be done to confirm the result), I am not that excited as some media have been over-reacting. One is because the existence of this particle has been predicted for many decades, and many physicists has predicted that its existence will be confirmed very soon (meaning that it could have been discovered last year, or even earlier).
Another reason I am not surprised with this discovery is that one of the Higgs particles lives in my office and smile at me. I am not talking about some materials in my office (as Higgs particles create weight for atoms and thus for materials, the desk, chair, even my body contains so many of Higgs particles). Here, I am talking about Mr. Higgs Boson living in my office. So, now, I will introduce you to Mr. Higgs. See the photo below.
Yes, it is my mascott (aka Plush Toy), sitting on the big table in my office. I bought Mr. Higgs Boson when I visited the Space Expo in Tokyo in early December 2009 (see photo below).
At this expo, one of the venders was selling mascotts which look like cute aliens and each of which represent different particle (see photos below).
These particle mascotts are collectively called Particle Zoo, and were designed and hand-made by Ms. Julie Peasley in LA. For more info, visit the following website:
Well, I have a sweet and bitter relation with Mr. Higgs Boson. He is cute, but is the cause of matter to posess weight (or should I say, mass). So when I notice my overweight (don't call me fat, please - I am just overweight), Mr. Higgs Boson is playing behind. So sometimes he is nice, but sometimes, I want to shout at him like:
You damn particle!
You damn mean particle!
Then, I feel vain.
Vain is weightless, though. That's the only good thing about vain.
Shuji
Posted on Thursday 5 July 2012