"Scientists Excited Over Hints of Finding Elusive 'God Particle'"

"Scientists eagerly await data that may prove the existence of the Higgs boson, which is key to understanding mass in the universe. Or the hints may be a false alarm."



"Scientists are quivering with anticipation — flying halfway around the world for a close-up view of the action and devouring the latest updates from the blogosphere the way some girls track the doings of Justin Bieber.

Careers hang in the balance. Not to mention a cache of chocolate handed out by the folks who award Nobel Prizes.

All the fuss is over an elusive subatomic particle called the Higgs boson, which is key to understanding mass in the universe. No one has ever presented proof of its existence, but that may be about to change. ...

Teams at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, will make a preliminary announcement about their search next week. Scientists expect to get a general indication of whether the Higgs is what they think it is — or not."

Eryn Brown reports for the Los Angeles Times December 9, 2011.

 

Source: LA Times, 12/09/2011