What is the Higgs Boson? Good explanation for non-science folks

[ohgeewhiz]

Last edited Wed Jul 4, 2012, 03:23 PM - Edit history (1)

John Ellis, theoretical physicist: What is the Higgs Boson? Has it been discovered yet? CERN experiments observe particle consistent with long-sought Higgs boson.

Published on Jul 4, 2012 by Best0fScience

[eridani]

1. Alpine Kat did a pretty good explanation in the LHC rap song

Last edited Fri Jul 6, 2012, 09:58 PM - Edit history (1)

The Higgs is the boson everybody talks about
And it's one sure thing this machine will sort out
If the Higgs exists they ought to see it rill detect it!ght away
If it doesn't, the scientists will finally say
"There is no Higgs! We need new physics to account for why
things have mass. Something in our standard model's gone awry."

But the Higgs, I still haven't said just what it does
But suppose that particles have mass because
there is a Higgs field that extends throughout space,
and some particles slow down and other particles race
straight through, like the photon--it has no mass,
but something like the top quark is dragging its ass.
And the Higgs is the boson that carries the force
that makes particles take orders from the field that is its source

And they'll detect it!

Corrected per response #8.

[Iggy]

2. Higgs Boson Approaches

pseudo science, IMHO.

let's get real-- it's obervable for one-billionth of a second?

and the announcement was that a "Higgs-like" particle was maybe discovered.

sorry, I don't see this as earth shattering.

an interesting take:

GIVE it a few decades and scientists will admit that Higgs Boson is not fundamental after all. Eventually they will realize that Higgs-Boson doesn’t give matter it’s mass. Mass is the effect of motion. Densification is an effect not a cause. Therefore this is not a God particle. The Higgs-Boson particle is just another effect of motion. It is not the cause of anything any more than any other particle is. Quantum physics is a theory that seems correct because it predicts effects. But it is wrong because it treats effects (particles) as causes.

Only pre-physical motion is fundamental. What ancient cultures called forces or urges in motion are the cause of all matter.
Since Democritus misunderstanding of the Ancient Egyption concept of Atum, western thinkers and scientist have been stuck on the notion of particles.

Quantum physics is nothing but an contemporary form of ancient Greek atomism. As such it provides the a psuedo-scientific underpinning to a political structure based on materialism. It is widely used to give scientific cover to the agenda of materialism. Materialism and Quantum physics are two sides of the same socio/scientific coin. The scientist have to say they have found the God particle to justify the role they are paid to play, in the system of scientific materialism. All they have found is something a bit smaller than what was known about before. Woohoo !

http://gigaom.com/2012/07/04/what-the-web-is-saying-about-the-god-particle/

[ret5hd]

3. derpa derpa derpa derp

[Eddie Haskell]

6. You seem to be an expert ...

Why not enlighten us?

[Posteritatis]

9. Don't have to be an expert to tell someone's opinion on a topic is incredibly clueless. (nt)

[Confusious]

12. Hear enough snake oil salesmen

and you can always pick out the pitch.

Maybe he can get something in there about oppressed peoples and imperialism the next go around.

It's crap.

[Iterate]

4. A nice thing about science, it's open and experiment can be replicated

In other words, you can pick any point in the past, test any theory, duplicate any experiment, work out the math, and you should get the same results. From there you can work your way forward.

I'd suggest you start with Newton. Within a few years you can have you own LHC and dispute the results.

[Swede]

5. It's bad enough this is on DU,let alone the science forum.

Ugh.

[Posteritatis]

10. I did expect a few more of them than we've had at least, so that's something

Most of the real weapons-grade antiscience people tend to latch on to other topics, or have been shown the door in the last year or so.

[Confusious]

13. Quack

quack

more from your source

Space-time-matter based science cannot be applied to meta material questions. Matter cannot cause matter. Only consciousness can. Trying to figure out how matter causes matter is an exercise in nonsensical futility, that says more about the limitations of present scientific practice, than does about ultimate reality.

But there won’t be a global press release about the conscious foundation of the laws, that shape the forces, that govern the creation of matter, because the political ramifications of this – the worlds best kept secret (for the last 2500 years) – would bring the whole corrupt politico/scientific system tumbling down.

quack

woo

bullshit

Someone spent too much time soaking up the bullshit spew from post modernists. Gives you a degree in bullshit that people who do spin for a living can't match. Nonsensical ramblings who want to be important, but don't have enough intelligence to rub two sticks together to start a fire.

[lastlib]

7. "Higgs boson: the Force will be with it..."

[dfgrbac]

8. The proton has mass!

In fact, the proton has more mass than the electron.

I think you meant to say the "photon" - the particle of light which has no mass.

[eridani]

11. Duh!

Will fix it.