God Particle - Getting closer to finding it?

Bohrio

I have come across a few articles about the Higgs Particle... Not sure if this has been posted here and I know is on an early stage of discovery but it looks interesting and promising...

Here is one of them...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/dec/13/higgs-boson-seminar-god-particle

MyKeyG

Bohrio wrote: »

I have come across a few articles about the Higgs Particle... Not sure if this has been posted here and I know is on an early stage of discovery but it looks interesting and promising...

Here is one of them...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/dec/13/higgs-boson-seminar-god-particle

Promising regarding what though? The lad on the news said it has no apparent practical application as of yet and couldn't say if there ever would be one. To me all this sort of thing is like space exploration, informative but as of yet impractical. Surely on a scale of priorities we have bigger fish to fry.

Bohrio

MyKeyG wrote: »

Promising regarding what though? The lad on the news said it has no apparent practical application as of yet and couldn't say if there ever would be one. To me all this sort of thing is like space exploration, informative but as of yet impractical. Surely on a scale of priorities we have bigger fish to fry.

Well is not as fascinating as discovering a new earth like planet but put it this way.. Higgs is the missing piece to confirm the standard particle model, the only one missing. Once this is confirmed this chapter is closed and a new one will open.

It will help explain things like the big bang.

Like when dark matter was replicated, no practical use but still an important event.. most things like this have no "practical" application

This discovery is not only key to those more veteran scientists that have been exploring this from the theorical perspective only but also and invitation to new scientist.

KrustyBurger

If they do find the Higgs boson it will be a massive event in physics/science. Let's not underestimate the significance of this. Similarly if they don't find it it will be of at least equal significance.

slade_x

MyKeyG wrote: »

Promising regarding what though? The lad on the news said it has no apparent practical application as of yet and couldn't say if there ever would be one. To me all this sort of thing is like space exploration, informative but as of yet impractical. Surely on a scale of priorities we have bigger fish to fry.

Informative? Space exploration is more than informative and is not impractical, it has advanced technology on many fields including medical science.

Some easy to find articles on the subject in a matter of seconds;

Space Program Benefits: NASA’s Positive Impact on Society:
http://www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/benefits.html

Small extract from article:
The areas in which NASA-developed technologies benefit society can broadly be defined as: health and medicine, transportation, public safety, consumer goods, environmental and agricultural resources, computer technology and industrial productivity. Since 1976, the annual NASA publication Spinoff has detailed the influence and impact on society of agency activities. More detail on these and other programs, technologies and spinoffs can be accessed through NASA’s Spinoff data base or accessed on NASA’s Web site, www.nasa.gov. Also, since 1990, NASA has recognized its “Government and Commercial Invention of the Year” and, since 1994, the “Software of the Year.” The following examples, shown by the year they were published in Spinoff, are merely indicative of NASA’s positive societal impact over the years

http://www.universetoday.com/37079/benefits-of-space-exploration/ - Many more examples given in article

Small extract from article:

The questions that many American grumble out is “Why waste the money on space when we can use it down here?”


The answer is two-fold. We actually do spend the money down here. It goes to the salaries of the countless worker and scientist that support every mission that NASA does. It also goes to pay major private companies and corporations that play important roles in major sectors of the US economy. For example one of NASA contractors for aircraft is Boeing the same company that makes commercial aircraft for the airline industry. So as you see there are already direct benefits to the economy provided by NASA missions.

The less obvious and most important benefit is spinoff technologies. The simple fact is that every new step we make in space exploration advances our knowledge of not just the Universe but the new height human innovation and technology can achieve. Some scientists have already hypothesized that if a civilization from another part of space were to make first contact with Earth their technology would be several orders of magnitude more advanced than ours because the many scientific and technological milestones they would need to achieve to make the feat even possible.

We are surrounded every day by technologies developed for space exploration. The artificial heart for example, resulted from experiments on the space shuttle and a partnership with renowned heart surgeon Dr. Michael Debakey. The hand held Jaws of Life used to save victims from car wrecks originated from the system used to separate the space shuttle from its booster rockets. Even the insulation that keeps our homes warm and energy efficient is based of the technology used to insulate the space shuttle.

These advances are found in our food, our building materials, medical procedures and the vehicles we drive. So the next time you wonder if it is a waste of time and money to explore space remember that it is actually an investment that improves the quality of our lives.

maninasia

Bohrio wrote: »

Well is not as fascinating as discovering a new earth like planet but put it this way.. Higgs is the missing piece to confirm the standard particle model, the only one missing. Once this is confirmed this chapter is closed and a new one will open.

It will help explain things like the big bang.

Like when dark matter was replicated, no practical use but still an important event.. most things like this have no "practical" application

This discovery is not only key to those more veteran scientists that have been exploring this from the theorical perspective only but also and invitation to new scientist.

There will be many earth like planets discovered in the future but the discovery of the Higg's really is a real fundamental breakthrough, it ratchets together the Standard Model and scientists have been looking for it since 1964!
This allows new theories and breakthroughs to lead on from this which will ultimately have practical applications.

Bohrio

maninasia wrote: »

There will be many earth like planets discovered in the future....

I hope I live to see that moment... I am almost sure it will happen very soon

who_ru

maninasia wrote: »

There will be many earth like planets discovered in the future

discovering them is one thing, getting to them is another!



as a matter of interest, who is actually funding the Cern facility and all its boffins?

maninasia

There is no funding coming from Ireland as far as I recall.