All this does is confirm what we already know. The media have no idea what they're screeching about and are acting like this discovery will give us all new physics....or sumthin.

"God particle" lol...

I'm definitely glad I came here and read this, because my girlfriend's Dad, a fellow of the Royal Institution and professor at Caltech for NASA says that the discovery of this particle is one of the biggest findings in all of science.

He's gonna shit bricks when I tell him that he's talking shit because GONNAFISTYA, a guy on the net, says it's all meaningless.

I never said it was meaningless, I said it confirmed what we already knew. Are you a moron or something? Perhaps your girlfriend's dad can seep some of his intelligence youre way, because you continually look dumber and dumber (and really fucking bitter) every time you post.

You kind of did say it was meaningless. At the very least, you implied simultaneously that it wasn't really a big deal, and that you, personally, were slightly superior to everyone who'd got excited about it.

And no, it didn't confirm what "we" already knew, it validated key mathematical equations that predicated its existence.

Again though, people who disagree with you aren't automatically "bitter" about some perceived slight; stop being such an egomaniac.

Can't imagine the feeling to have vindication/confirmation of something this huge after 30 years of practical experiment. The notion that someone could create such a seemingly crazy theory based on mathematics, then wait for technology to be invented so that it can be tested and proven is just incredible. Just shows you how much weight theoretical physics really carries.

It must be amazing for all involved

I'm pleased with myself when I decide to trying something new with chicken and it pays off a few hours later, never mind theorising the basic building blocks of the universe. I'd class that as a good days work in fairness...

But a new soda flavor at the quickie-mart will probably be more life changing, to the general public than this finding.

GKY is right, nothing will really change with this, no matter what laymorons and eager news sites want you to believe.

On the other hand, an idea over 50 years old is just about to be proven correct with an accuracy level that would make even the most pedantic of us lose interest.

In the right circles this is huge! But a new soda flavor at the quickie-mart will probably be more life changing, to the general public than this finding.

oh yeah ? how is a unification theory gonna affect your life? just shut up.

See, I haven't seen a single news story portray this find in the way you or GFY say. The ones I've read have kept to the fact that it is a confirmation of a widely held but as-yet-unproven belief.

This find isn't related to unification theory. The Higgs Boson underpins the Standard Model of particle physics, but it's existence, as I understand it, doesn't move science any closer or further from a reliable unification theory.

the problem is not in the underlying facts, but the way they present it as if THIS will finally let us time travel or go faster than the speed of light, or get GKY to look good in bootcut jeans.
The real impressive feat in my eyes is the construction of the particle accelerator ... the amount of engineering and science brain flexing that is on display. This is the Antikythera Mechanism of our generation.

I was under the impression that since this is what gives mass to something, it would finally bring the weak force into perspective in relation to all other forces.

getting the new generation excited is all good and well, but you can't have a factual article induce high levels of layman interest without being in risk of sensationalism. Also, I don't think any site has precisely used any of the 3 claims I mentioned but they 'sound' that way, and that's the kind of shit people start thinking about.

here for instance:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... esday.html

you'll find the quote:
"The Higgs boson is regarded as the key to understanding the universe"
Which is sensationalizing to say the least. There are a few other gems like that on most articles I've come up to.

you might say this is not a reputable site, but these are the types of sites most people get their info from.

Yeah but it's not confirmed this is the Higgs Bozon. Even if it was, it'd be decades or longer before anything materialized from that knowledge. The theory of its existence has been around awhile, we're not learning anything new, we're just confirming what we think we know and right now, they've confirmed a new state at 125 GeV that's consistent with the Higgs but as far as confirming it's the Higgs bozon we're not there yet.