Comments on: Mass effect: Maybe Higgs, maybe not

By: christina knight

christina knight — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 22:08:28 +0000

Thank you for being more honest about what has actually been found than I have found on other sites. I am still betting that the Higgs does not exist. However, whatever it is that has been discovered will probably lead to new physics, and that is important.

By: misc-ience - science-related ramblings and whimsy

misc-ience - science-related ramblings and whimsy — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:29:51 +0000

[...] Mass effect: Maybe Higgs, maybe not [...]

By: 2011: The Year in Science.

2011: The Year in Science. — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:04:20 +0000

[...] for, physicists at CERN running the ATLAS experiment continue to close in on the elusive Higgs-Boson particle. This is the predicted “God-Particle,” a fundamental particle that gives you, me and [...]

By: Tissa Perera

Tissa Perera — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:39:56 +0000

Mass is an intrinsic property of matter, so is inertia. So, it cannot be due to any external field.
Therefore the Higg’s field and particle is not an option. Strangely mass is to be explained
by another particle having mass? Anyway nobody can explain what fields are made of either.
I conclude that all fundamental particles are made of tiny strings that vibrate to produce intrinsic energy and therefore mass, that is all there is to mass.

By: What’s a Higgs Bozo? « The Gear Head Skeptic

What’s a Higgs Bozo? « The Gear Head Skeptic — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 03:02:52 +0000

[...] science behind this story, I recommend these posts on the always excellent Starts With A Bang, and Bad Astronomy [...]

By: Yavor

Yavor — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:39:14 +0000

Hi,

Correct me if I am wrong but will not this Higgs be a light one? And if it is what about the vacuum decay?

BR,
Yavor

By: Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort

Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:27:24 +0000

@Joseph G:

Guilty as charged. Massive geek here. And yes, Turians are cute, Garrus is my favorite Turian ♥

By: Neil Haggath

Neil Haggath — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:35:02 +0000

#88 Joseph:
The Lorentz or Gamma Factor is indeed also connected with time dilation. It’s the factor by which time slows down as measured by a relativistic traveller, as well as the factor by which mass increases. The time measured by an observer at rest is gamma times that measured by the traveller. Theoretically, by travelling at very highly relativistic speeds, a spacecraft could travel any arbitrary distance within the lifetime of its crew; at 0.9999999c ( IIRC ), it could cross the Galaxy and back in 50 years, as measured by its crew – but of course, they would return to find that 200000 years had elapsed on Earth! The energy required would make this rather impractical, though…
It’s also the factor by which lengths are contracted. Gamma comes up a lot in Special Relativity!
So we have two reasons why no material object can reach the speed of light. If it did, its mass would become infinite, and time from its point of view would stop. If you look at the definition of gamma in comment #91, you can see that when v is equal to c, gamma becomes equal to infinity, as the bottom term becomes zero. You can also see why , when v is 0.99… c, adding two more 9′s increases gamma by a factor of 10.
Note that Lorentz discovered the gamma factor 20 years before Einstein formulated Special Relativity, which explained it. It was initially thought that it was a consequence of everything travelling through the hypothetical “Ether”, which was supposed to be an absolute frame of reference; e.g. the contraction of lengths was thought to be a physical contraction caused by motion through the ether. The famous Michelson-Morley Experiment in 1889 was intended to prove the existence of the Ether, but of course proved the opposite.
If you would like any further explantion of all this ( within my limited ability; many others could do a lot better ), then feel free to drop me an e-mail via my web site ( click on my name ).

By: I was going to get up and find the broom, but then I… » keeg.org

I was going to get up and find the broom, but then I… » keeg.org — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:42:01 +0000

[...] Real good explanation of whats going on with the Higgs boson [...]

By: Friday Links

Friday Links — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 07:23:54 +0000

[...] Possible data confirming Higgs Boson starts coming from Geneva [...]