God particle: Scientists 'close as you can get to a discovery without actually calling it one'

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
7/2/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Evidence mounts for the discovery of the Higgs boson - but falls short

After years of intensive research, scientists are set to make an announcement this Fourth of July as explosive as any firework ever conceived. They're set o show evidence that the long-sought after "God particle," i.e. the Higgs boson exists. There is a big caveat. Researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, aren't quite ready to say they've "discovered" the particle - yet they're as close as you can get to a discovery without actually calling it one.

CERN's atom smasher, the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider, has been creating high-energy collisions of protons to help them understand suspected phenomena such as dark matter, antimatter and the creation of the universe billions of years ago.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - After decades of work and billions of dollars spent, scientists at the world's biggest atom smasher say the particle will answer fundamental questions about the universe.

Experts familiar with the research at CERN's vast complex on the Swiss-French border say that the massive data they have obtained shows the footprint of the key particle for the Higgs boson -but won't allow them to say it has actually seen.

"I agree that any reasonable outside observer would say, 'It looks like a discovery,'" British theoretical physicist John Ellis, a professor at King's College London told The Associated Press. "We've discovered something which is consistent with being a Higgs."

CERN's atom smasher, the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider, has been creating high-energy collisions of protons to help them understand suspected phenomena such as dark matter, antimatter and the creation of the universe billions of years ago. Many theorize occurred as a massive explosion known as "the Big Bang."

It must be duly noted that the discovery of the Higgs boson won't change people's lives but will explain the underpinnings of the universe, confirming the standard model of physics that explains why fundamental particles have mass, which is a trait that combines with gravity to give an object weight.

"Particle physicists have a very high standard for what it takes to be a discovery," Rob Roser, who leads the search for the Higgs boson at the Fermilab in Chicago, says.

Rosen gave an analogy using the fossilized imprint of a dinosaur: "You see the footprints and the shadow of the object, but you don't actually see it."

The Higgs boson previously has been a concept intended to explain a riddle: How were the subatomic particles, such as electrons, protons and neutrons, themselves formed? What gives them their mass?

As first proposed by physicist Peter Higgs and others in the Sixties, the boson envisioned an energy field where particles interact with a key particle, the Higgs boson.

CERN is presenting its evidence at a physics conference in Australia this week, but plans to accompany the announcement with meetings in Geneva.

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: God particle, Higgs boson, Geneva, Hadron Collider, physics

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1 - 3 of 3 Comments

Ray Campbell
11 months ago
My God is Not a Particle. See my Cafe Press store for t-shirts, hats, and bumper stickers that say this. http://www.cafepress.com/raysshop2
Shannon
11 months ago
Actually, the Big Bang Theory was thought up by a Catholic priest, and embraced by the Pope at the time as a valid, theologically sound, though not fully proven theory... The Genesis story in the Bible follows the pattern we know to have occurred over millions of years--God created light, water, land, plants, sea creatures, animals/birds... then, in His own Image, with rational souls... people. This is not contradictory to Genesis, because it does follow that pattern, and, as St. Peter said, "remember that to God, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day." The Church does not declare any one theory [strict literal creationism, vs intelligent design/the ORIGINAL Big Bang Theory] as fully definitive, but rather teaches that there are certain theories NOT true [that we are highly evolved monkeys... and, the watchmaker theory...] As Catholics, we must believe that humans are indeed created in the image and likeness of God, but whether Earth as we know it was created over a week, or millions of years has zero effect on that. Personally I'm really glad they found the higgs boson, because it DOES validate the Big Bang Theory, which if you actually READ it, does check out logically with our faith. Scientists actually really disliked the Big Bang Theory because they thought it was "religion" masked as science... [the obvious argument for 'what caused the Bang' being "God"]. They were trying to come up with this ridiculous expanding and contracting universe argument, that the universe just expands, then collapses on itself and re-explodes infinitely... [which defies all laws of physics, ever]. Now that the Big Bang theory is proven, it nullifies that infinite cycle argument, which provides a MUCH stronger case [when arguing with people scientifically] for God, our Creator.
JosephU
11 months ago
Evolutionists: (partial quote from the article) "...creation of the universe billions of years ago. Many theorize occurred as a massive explosion known as "the Big Bang."

What Does the Catholic Church Teach about Origins?
- God created everything “in its whole substance” from nothing (ex nihilo) in the beginning. (Lateran IV; Vatican Council I)
http://www.kolbecenter.org/images/kolbe/pdfs/what_church_teaches.pdf

Cutting-Edge Science:
- Molecules-to-man evolutionary theory violates the second law of thermodynamics by positing spontaneous increases in order through random interactions of matter.
- Matter from explosions does not condense to form objects like galaxies.
See: What Does the Catholic Church Teach about Origins?
What Does Cutting-Edge Science Teach about Origins?
http://www.kolbecenter.org/images/kolbe/pdfs/what_church_teaches.pdf

God, Exodus 20:1,8,11 (NIV 1984Bible), The Ten Commandments.

1 "And God spoke all these words ...
8 'Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy ....
11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens andthe earth,
the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.'
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus20&version=NIV1984

Conclusion:
Creation ... Yes.
Evolution ... No.

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