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"God Particle" Found? will it be a Historic Milestone in science
Almost 50 years after the physicist Peter Higgs gave theoretical proofs about existence of it, the Higgs Boson, has now been successfully detected along with concluding data about its existence. But what is special about this particle? Is it wise to call it the 'God Particle'? And what is the reason of so much media excitement on this?
Obviously, discovery of 'Higgs Boson' or actually, to be more accurate, a particle which shows properties very close to 'Higgs Boson' as theorised by Peter Higgs has become a model of scientific approach of understanding nature and it is a proof of how much can be achieved just by strong will and vision. What happened at CERN is obviously a great discovery, but that's not the end, and obviously it was not the beginning. Unknown to most people is the fact that the particle found at CERN is one of fewer than 20 building blocks all known matter is made from. In fact, in 1980s CERN made discovery of W and Z Bosons which were also very important in the standard model but it didn't get as much attention as Higgs or in a way nothing compared to it. So, if it is not that much new to the physicists, then what makes it really special and worthy of so much media coverage.
Well, as long as media is concerned there are number of facts which together made it 'The Big Show'. The amount of money which had been put in creating the LHC and making it run is just eye popping. Also, a theory given almost half century back finally became experimentally verified. Apart from that, the technological advancement in communication and involvement of scientists from different regions of the world at such a large scale resulted in the big buzz.
The most distinguishing feature of the particle is its associated field which gives mass to other particles within the field. And the fact that we are much familiar in handling things which have mass rather than what gives mass makes it hard to explain, and this 'Hard to explain' part is also one of the reason of naming it the 'God Particle' by some media groups. Calling 'Higgs Boson' discovery historic is easy but if instead of being amazed we try to understand it then we will know that this step in science was result of more than 50 years of theoretical and experimental work and every step that led to this is as much prized and an achievement for human race as is this one.
As exciting is this discovery, there are innumerable problems in world which are not solved by it. I do not say this to downplay this great discovery but rather to light up the multifaceted nature of science. There is still a lot to be researched and this is just another chapter in the book of science like all other which led to it and many the others which will be found because of it.
Aleem javed
