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The scientific world, physicists and chemists especially, are like kids at Christmas currently because they believe they have proven that a particular particle called the Higgs boson exists. According to theory, the Higgs boson is at the very heart of all matter. Sometimes referred to as the “God particle”, it is believed by many to be the particle that gives mass to every other sub-atomic particle. If all goes as planned, the new Large Hadron Collider in France – the most powerful particle accelerator in history – will smash particles into atoms and see what comes out. Some, however, fear that such a powerful collision will set off a reaction that could create a black hole that would suck up the Earth like a cosmic vacuum cleaner. That reminds me of the story of when the first Atomic Bomb was exploded right here in New Mexico: Enrico Fermi supposedly was taking bets on whether the blast would set off a chain reaction in the atmosphere that would completely burn the Earth to a cinder – he thought it might, but I don’t know how he was planning on collecting on his bets! Do a little research on this (just type in “Higgs boson” or “God particle” in your search engine) or go to this great article that was published in National Geographic: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/03/god-part… and give us your opinion on these points: Do you think spending so much money – the equivalent of billions of dollars – on projects like this is worthwhile? Does it worry you that some people think this could create a black hole that would consume Earth? Should humans continue to persue projects like this (the space program, for another example) or should we try to solve our everyday problems (health care, poverty, etc.) first? Does it bother you that this project is in France rather than the United States?
NEWS FLASH! Big news on the Higgs boson front. Type in “Higgs boson” in your search engine and you’ll see some great brand new info on the apparently sucessful quest for this important particle. Here’s an example of an article from 2012, but there are a lot more current ones out there too:
If you are interested, here’s a pretty cool article on the search for the Higgs boson and toward the bottom of the article, there is a neat interactive (the Big Bang Machine) about the Large Hadron Collider. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47783507/ns/technology_and_science-science
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