Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Quantum Mechanics I: The key experiments and wave-particle duality
The double slit experiment, which implies the end of Newtonian Mechanics is described. The de Broglie relation between wavelength and momentum is deduced from experiment for photons and electrons. The photoelectric effect and Compton scattering, which provided experimental support for Einstein's photon theory of light are reviewed. The wave function is introduced along with the probability interpretation. The uncertainty principle is shown arise from the fact that the particle's location is determined by a wave and that waves diffract when passing a narrow opening.
00:00 - Chapter 1. Recap of Young's double slit experiment
09:10 - Chapter 2. The Particulate Nature of Light
23:15 - Chapter 3. The Photoelectric Effect
31:19 - Chapter 4. Compton's scattering
36:10 - Chapter 5. Particle-wave duality of matter
48:33 - Chapter 6. The Uncertainty Principle
Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses
This course was recorded in Spring 2010.
The double slit experiment, which implies the end of Newtonian Mechanics is described. The de Broglie relation between wavelength and momentum is deduced from experiment for photons and electrons. The photoelectric effect and Compton scattering, which provided experimental support for Einstein's photon theory of light are reviewed. The wave function is introduced along with the probability interpretation. The uncertainty principle is shown arise from the fact that the particle's location is determined by a wave and that waves diffract when passing a narrow opening.
00:00 - Chapter 1. Recap of Young's double slit experiment
09:10 - Chapter 2. The Particulate Nature of Light
23:15 - Chapter 3. The Photoelectric Effect
31:19 - Chapter 4. Compton's scattering
36:10 - Chapter 5. Particle-wave duality of matter
48:33 - Chapter 6. The Uncertainty Principle
Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses
This course was recorded in Spring 2010.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Machu Picchu Decoded - National Geographic - 01/04
A National Geographic documentary about the fascinating and mysterious pre-Columbian Inca lost city of Machu Picchu. Deep in the Andean mountains lays a mysterious ruin named Machu Picchu. For 400 years it sat abandoned on its misty cliff, the quintessential lost city in the jungle. Rediscovered in 1911, it contained no written records or carvings, nothing that could shed light on its history. For a century since, it has defied the endless scores of visitors and scientists who attempted to understand its purpose. Who were the mysterious people who built it and why did they build it here? Today an international team of archeologists, engineers and scientists are finally piecing together the clues. Together they are discovering astonishing new burials, revealing the intricacies of its ingenious engineering and finally decoding the secrets of Machu Picchu.
A National Geographic documentary about the fascinating and mysterious pre-Columbian Inca lost city of Machu Picchu. Deep in the Andean mountains lays a mysterious ruin named Machu Picchu. For 400 years it sat abandoned on its misty cliff, the quintessential lost city in the jungle. Rediscovered in 1911, it contained no written records or carvings, nothing that could shed light on its history. For a century since, it has defied the endless scores of visitors and scientists who attempted to understand its purpose. Who were the mysterious people who built it and why did they build it here? Today an international team of archeologists, engineers and scientists are finally piecing together the clues. Together they are discovering astonishing new burials, revealing the intricacies of its ingenious engineering and finally decoding the secrets of Machu Picchu.
The Universe: Mars, new evidence
In recent years there are new clues that suggest the possible existence of life on Mars. Today there is evidence to confirm the existence of water flowing over the surface and lakes, and further that the Polar ice caps are composed primarily of water and carbon dioxide as previously thought. On Mars there is snow and lightning are caused by dust storms. Most intriguing of all are seasonal emissions of methane, which could indicate the existence of bacteria below the surface.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Journey to the Edge of the Universe [Full - HD 1080p]
National Geographic presents the first accurate non-stop voyage from Earth to the edge of the Universe using a single, unbroken shot through the use of spectacular CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) technology.
Building on images taken from the Hubble telescope, Journey to the Edge of the Universe explores the science and history behind the distant celestial bodies in the solar system.
This spectacular, epic voyage across the cosmos, takes us from the Earth, past the Moon and our neighboring planets, out of our Solar System, to the nearest stars, nebulae and galaxies and beyond -- right to the edge of the Universe itself.
When you finish this video, you will walk away from it with an awareness that you never had before, of the unseen astronomically massive universe that we float around on like a spec of dust in the ocean.
This video takes you on a journey through the universe as if you are watching a Sci Fi adventure. Yet you constantly have to remind yourself that what you're seeing is really out there.
National Geographic presents the first accurate non-stop voyage from Earth to the edge of the Universe using a single, unbroken shot through the use of spectacular CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) technology.
Building on images taken from the Hubble telescope, Journey to the Edge of the Universe explores the science and history behind the distant celestial bodies in the solar system.
This spectacular, epic voyage across the cosmos, takes us from the Earth, past the Moon and our neighboring planets, out of our Solar System, to the nearest stars, nebulae and galaxies and beyond -- right to the edge of the Universe itself.
When you finish this video, you will walk away from it with an awareness that you never had before, of the unseen astronomically massive universe that we float around on like a spec of dust in the ocean.
This video takes you on a journey through the universe as if you are watching a Sci Fi adventure. Yet you constantly have to remind yourself that what you're seeing is really out there.
The Hunt For Higgs - amazing HD Documentary
Anticipation is building in the run-up to presentations of the best-yet evidence for - or against - the existence of the Higgs boson.
The famed particle is a missing link in current theories of physics, used to explain how things gains their mass.
Rumours have been swirling about the findings for weeks, ahead of the announcement on Tuesday afternoon.
It is likely to yield only tantalising hints, as the teams do not have enough data to claim a formal discovery.
However, most physicists concede that not finding the Higgs boson is as exciting a prospect as finding it in the place where existing theory predicts it should be.
"If we wouldn't find it it would be even - in a way - more exciting, but you know, both ways, it's a win-win situation," said Prof Stefan Soldner-Rembold, a particle physicist from the University of Manchester.
"[If] we find it, we know this theory's complete, but there's still more things to look for. If we don't find it, we know there must be something else which we haven't understood yet."
Field day
Finding the Higgs was a key goal for the $10bn (£6bn) Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - a 27km (17-mile) circumference accelerator ring of superconducting magnets, designed to re-create the conditions just after the Big Bang in an attempt to answer fundamental questions of science and the Universe itself.
The collider hosts two experiments - Atlas and CMS - that are searching for the particle independently.
There is intense excitement among physicists working at Cern, the Geneva-based organisation which operates the collider, over hints that the hunters have cornered their quarry.
"It is a fantastic time at the moment, you can feel people are enthusiastic," Dr Christoph Rembser, a senior scientist on the Atlas experiment, told BBC News. "It is really very lively."
Continue reading the main story
"Start Quote If the Universe really is like that, I find it really quite breathtaking and humbling that we can understand it"
Dr Tara Shears University of Liverpool, UK
Prof Soldner-Rembold called the quality of the LHC's results "exceptional", adding: "Within one year we will probably know whether the Higgs particle exists, but it is likely not going to be a Christmas present."
He told me: "The Higgs particle would, of course, be a great discovery, but it would be an even greater discovery if it didn't exist where theory predicts it to be."
The Higgs boson is a "fundamental" particle; one of the basic building blocks of the Universe. It is also the last missing piece in the leading theory of particle physics - known as the Standard Model - which describes how particles and forces interact.
The Higgs explains why other particles have mass. As the Universe cooled after the Big Bang, an invisible force known as the Higgs field formed together with its associated boson particle.
It is this field (and not the boson) that imparts mass to the fundamental particles that make up atoms. Without it, these particles would zip through the cosmos at the speed of light.
Anticipation is building in the run-up to presentations of the best-yet evidence for - or against - the existence of the Higgs boson.
The famed particle is a missing link in current theories of physics, used to explain how things gains their mass.
Rumours have been swirling about the findings for weeks, ahead of the announcement on Tuesday afternoon.
It is likely to yield only tantalising hints, as the teams do not have enough data to claim a formal discovery.
However, most physicists concede that not finding the Higgs boson is as exciting a prospect as finding it in the place where existing theory predicts it should be.
"If we wouldn't find it it would be even - in a way - more exciting, but you know, both ways, it's a win-win situation," said Prof Stefan Soldner-Rembold, a particle physicist from the University of Manchester.
"[If] we find it, we know this theory's complete, but there's still more things to look for. If we don't find it, we know there must be something else which we haven't understood yet."
Field day
Finding the Higgs was a key goal for the $10bn (£6bn) Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - a 27km (17-mile) circumference accelerator ring of superconducting magnets, designed to re-create the conditions just after the Big Bang in an attempt to answer fundamental questions of science and the Universe itself.
The collider hosts two experiments - Atlas and CMS - that are searching for the particle independently.
There is intense excitement among physicists working at Cern, the Geneva-based organisation which operates the collider, over hints that the hunters have cornered their quarry.
"It is a fantastic time at the moment, you can feel people are enthusiastic," Dr Christoph Rembser, a senior scientist on the Atlas experiment, told BBC News. "It is really very lively."
Continue reading the main story
"Start Quote If the Universe really is like that, I find it really quite breathtaking and humbling that we can understand it"
Dr Tara Shears University of Liverpool, UK
Prof Soldner-Rembold called the quality of the LHC's results "exceptional", adding: "Within one year we will probably know whether the Higgs particle exists, but it is likely not going to be a Christmas present."
He told me: "The Higgs particle would, of course, be a great discovery, but it would be an even greater discovery if it didn't exist where theory predicts it to be."
The Higgs boson is a "fundamental" particle; one of the basic building blocks of the Universe. It is also the last missing piece in the leading theory of particle physics - known as the Standard Model - which describes how particles and forces interact.
The Higgs explains why other particles have mass. As the Universe cooled after the Big Bang, an invisible force known as the Higgs field formed together with its associated boson particle.
It is this field (and not the boson) that imparts mass to the fundamental particles that make up atoms. Without it, these particles would zip through the cosmos at the speed of light.
Higgs Boson: Latest Update
Fermilab scientist (and CMS collaborator) Don Lincoln describes the concept of how the search for the Higgs boson is accomplished. The latest data is revealed! Several large experimental groups are hot on the trail of this elusive subatomic particle which is thought to explain the origins of particle mass. You can try the interactive graphic (using IE 9+, Firefox 3.4+, Safari 4+) at: http://vmsstreamer1.fnal.gov/VMS/111208_HowHiggs/HiggsInteractive.htm
Fermilab scientist (and CMS collaborator) Don Lincoln describes the concept of how the search for the Higgs boson is accomplished. The latest data is revealed! Several large experimental groups are hot on the trail of this elusive subatomic particle which is thought to explain the origins of particle mass. You can try the interactive graphic (using IE 9+, Firefox 3.4+, Safari 4+) at: http://vmsstreamer1.fnal.gov/VMS/111208_HowHiggs/HiggsInteractive.htm
Friday, July 20, 2012
Getting to Know the Goldilocks Planet
NASA's Kepler spacecraft is discovering a veritable avalanche of alien worlds. As the numbers mount, it seems to be just a matter of time before Kepler finds what astronomers are really looking for: an Earth-like planet orbiting its star in the "Goldilocks zone".
NASA's Kepler spacecraft is discovering a veritable avalanche of alien worlds. As the numbers mount, it seems to be just a matter of time before Kepler finds what astronomers are really looking for: an Earth-like planet orbiting its star in the "Goldilocks zone".
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is the most powerful particle collider ever built and has been described as the world's biggest science experiment.
Designed to answer the unknowns in particle physics, including the reason for so little antimatter in the universe and the exact locations of dark matter and the missing Higgs particle, the LHC is capable of recreating the conditions that were in existence one fraction of a second after the Big Bang.
Tara takes the stage at The Royal Institution to reveal what has been discovered at the LHC since its first year of operation.
This event took place at the Ri on Wednesday 19 October 2011.
Category:
Science & Technology
MUST SEE!!! THIS IS HAPPENING NOW!! NANO TECHNOLOGY AND THE NWO BRAIN IMPLANTS
THIS IS THE TECHNOLOGY THE ILLUMINATI IS CURRENTLY USING IN LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE HOSPITAL TO IMPLANT SO CALLED "PSYCHIATRIC" PATIENTS AGAINST THEIR WILL WHO ARE REALLY POLITICAL PRISONERS AND MIND CONTROL VICTIMS.. THESE DEVICES ARE LINKED VIA SATELLITE TOTHE ILLUMIATI'S COMPUTERS AND CONTROL CENTERS AND USED TO TRACK AND TORTURE INDIVIDUALS
THIS IS THE TECHNOLOGY THE ILLUMINATI IS CURRENTLY USING IN LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE HOSPITAL TO IMPLANT SO CALLED "PSYCHIATRIC" PATIENTS AGAINST THEIR WILL WHO ARE REALLY POLITICAL PRISONERS AND MIND CONTROL VICTIMS.. THESE DEVICES ARE LINKED VIA SATELLITE TOTHE ILLUMIATI'S COMPUTERS AND CONTROL CENTERS AND USED TO TRACK AND TORTURE INDIVIDUALS
Travelling to the Gliese 581 System
Video discussing the possibility of travelling to the Gliese 581 system, where the recently discovered Earthlike exoplanet, Glise581g, is located.
How do we get to the Gliese581 system to visit our sister planet and how long will it take?
As told by Stephen Hawking - Into the Universe: The Story of Everything - Educational Purposes Only. I am not the creator/owner of the content of this video.
Information on the three part series can be found at http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/stephen-hawking/about/about.html
Does Gliese 581g exist?
http://www.space.com/10897-alien-planet-gliese-581g-great-debate.html
Video discussing the possibility of travelling to the Gliese 581 system, where the recently discovered Earthlike exoplanet, Glise581g, is located.
How do we get to the Gliese581 system to visit our sister planet and how long will it take?
As told by Stephen Hawking - Into the Universe: The Story of Everything - Educational Purposes Only. I am not the creator/owner of the content of this video.
Information on the three part series can be found at http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/stephen-hawking/about/about.html
Does Gliese 581g exist?
http://www.space.com/10897-alien-planet-gliese-581g-great-debate.html
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Secrets of the Sun
The Sun contains 99.9% of all the matter in our solar system. It sheds hot plasma at nearly a million miles per hour. The temperature at its core is a staggering 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. It convulses, it blazes, it sings. You know it as the Sun.
Scientists know it as one of the most amazing physics laboratories in the universe. Now, with the help of new spacecraft and Earth-based telescopes, scientists are seeing the Sun as they never have before and even recreating what happens at its very center in labs here on Earth. Their work will help us understand aspects of the Sun that have puzzled scientists for decades. But more critically, it may help us predict and track solar storms that have the power to zap our power grid, shut down telecommunications, and ground global air travel for days, weeks, or even longer. Such storms have happened before--but never in the modern era of satellite communication. "Secrets of the Sun" by NOVA PBS reveals a bright new dawn in our understanding of our nearest star--one that might help keep our planet from going dark
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
First Extragalactic Exoplanet {18th of November 2010}
In the last 15 years, astronomers have observed nearly 500 exoplanets in our cosmic neighbourhood. These remain solely within a 500 light year radius of Earth, in the galactic suberbs of the Milky Way. However, recently it was announced that an exoplanet from another galaxy has been detected.
In the last 15 years, astronomers have observed nearly 500 exoplanets in our cosmic neighbourhood. These remain solely within a 500 light year radius of Earth, in the galactic suberbs of the Milky Way. However, recently it was announced that an exoplanet from another galaxy has been detected.
Friday, July 6, 2012
The Last day of the Dinosaurs - Discovery Channel
Shows how the asteroid that crashed in Yucatan some 65 million caused the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs.
O Último Dia dos Dinossauros - Discovery Channel
Dragões: Uma Fantasia que se torna Realidade
Mostra como o asteróide que caiu em Yucatan há 65 milhões causou a extinção em massa que dizimou os dinossauros.
Shows how the asteroid that crashed in Yucatan some 65 million caused the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs.
O Último Dia dos Dinossauros - Discovery Channel
Dragões: Uma Fantasia que se torna Realidade
Mostra como o asteróide que caiu em Yucatan há 65 milhões causou a extinção em massa que dizimou os dinossauros.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Higgs excitement at fever pitch
Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are expected to reveal the strongest evidence yet for the Higgs particle in Geneva shortly.
Anticipation is high and rumours have been rife about the announcement.
The Higgs boson would help explain why particles have mass, and fills a glaring hole in the current best theory to describe how the Universe works.
The strength of the LHC's signal is understood to be just short of the benchmark for claiming a "discovery".
But it will show that researchers are now tantalisingly close to confirming the Higgs' existence and bringing to an end the decades-long quest for the most coveted prize in physics.
The $10bn LHC is the most powerful particle accelerator ever built: it smashes two beams of protons together at close to the speed of light with the aim of revealing new phenomena in the wreckage of the collisions.
Massive problem
But why has so much time and effort been invested in detecting the boson?
"The Higgs boson gives other particles mass, which sounds simple," Tara Shears, a particle physicist at Liverpool University, told BBC News.
"But if particles didn't have mass, you wouldn't have stars, you wouldn't have galaxies, you wouldn't even have atoms. The Universe would be entirely different."
Along with five other theoreticians, Peter Higgs predicted the particle in the 1960s
Mass is a measure of how much stuff an object - such as a particle or molecule - contains. If it were not for mass, all of the fundamental particles that make up atoms would whiz around at light-speed and the Universe as we know it would never have clumped into matter.
According to the theory, all of space is filled by a field - known as the Higgs field, which is mediated by particles known as Higgs bosons.
Other particles gain mass when they interact with the field, much as a person feels resistance from the water - drag - as they wade through a swimming pool.
The boson is the last missing particle in the Standard Model, the most widely accepted theory of how the cosmos works. But the Higgs remains a theoretical construct that has never been observed in a particle accelerator.
Four of the six theoretical physicists credited with coming up with the Higgs mechanism in the 1960s - including Prof Peter Higgs, after whom it is named - have been invited to Cern in Geneva for the presentations, fuelling anticipation of a major announcement.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the signal detected at a mass of 125 gigaelectronvolts (GeV), which was announced in December, has since strengthened.
"We now have more than double the data we had last year," said Cern's director for research and computing, Sergio Bertolucci.
"That should be enough to see whether the trends we were seeing in the 2011 data are still there, or whether they've gone away. It's a very exciting time."
Momentous time
Discovering particles is a numbers game, and scientists analyse many events that could be representative of a Higgs boson being produced in the LHC.
Continue reading the main story
Statistics of a 'discovery'
Particle physics has an accepted definition for a discovery: a "five-sigma" (or five standard-deviation) level of certainty
The number of sigmas measures how unlikely it is to get a certain experimental result as a matter of chance rather than due to a real effect
Similarly, tossing a coin and getting a number of heads in a row may just be chance, rather than a sign of a "loaded" coin
A "three-sigma" level represents about the same likelihood as tossing eight heads in a row
Five sigma, on the other hand, would correspond to tossing more than 20 in a row
Independent confirmation by other experiments turns five-sigma findings into accepted discoveries
The hints of the Higgs revealed in 2011 had a statistical certainty of just two sigma.
Three sigma represents about one in 700 likelihood that a "bump" in the data is down to some statistical fluctuation, in the absence of a Higgs. But the benchmark for a discovery is five sigma, denoting a one-in-3.5 million likelihood that a result is down to such a fluctuation.
Rumours suggest the certainty level has now crept beyond four sigma. This might not be enough to announce that scientists have found the elusive particle. But it would suggest the LHC's scientists are within touching distance, and several physicists privately say that such a signal is now unlikely to go away.
Also, the idea that some systemic error could affect all the experiments that see hints of the Higgs - including those at the LHC and the US Tevatron machine (which search for the particle in different ways) - seems just as improbable.
But if and when a new particle is discovered, it will not be clear straight away that it is the Higgs. Physicists will need to characterise its properties in order to confirm whether it is the version of the Higgs predicted by the Standard Model, a "non-conformist" Higgs that hints at new laws of physics, or something else entirely.
This will involve years of detailed and difficult work, said Dr Tony Weidberg, a University of Oxford physicist and member of one of the LHC's experimental teams, Atlas.
He told BBC News that even at a certainty level of five sigma, "you're very far from proving it's a Higgs particle at all, let alone a Standard Model Higgs".
Dr Shears explained that particle physics had seen nothing like this present phase of exploration "in 40 years".
Compared with previous particle accelerators, she said, "the LHC does have that power, that [large] amount of data generated, that precision".
"Everything is coming together to achieve this moment."
Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are expected to reveal the strongest evidence yet for the Higgs particle in Geneva shortly.
Anticipation is high and rumours have been rife about the announcement.
The Higgs boson would help explain why particles have mass, and fills a glaring hole in the current best theory to describe how the Universe works.
The strength of the LHC's signal is understood to be just short of the benchmark for claiming a "discovery".
But it will show that researchers are now tantalisingly close to confirming the Higgs' existence and bringing to an end the decades-long quest for the most coveted prize in physics.
The $10bn LHC is the most powerful particle accelerator ever built: it smashes two beams of protons together at close to the speed of light with the aim of revealing new phenomena in the wreckage of the collisions.
Massive problem
But why has so much time and effort been invested in detecting the boson?
"The Higgs boson gives other particles mass, which sounds simple," Tara Shears, a particle physicist at Liverpool University, told BBC News.
"But if particles didn't have mass, you wouldn't have stars, you wouldn't have galaxies, you wouldn't even have atoms. The Universe would be entirely different."
Along with five other theoreticians, Peter Higgs predicted the particle in the 1960s
Mass is a measure of how much stuff an object - such as a particle or molecule - contains. If it were not for mass, all of the fundamental particles that make up atoms would whiz around at light-speed and the Universe as we know it would never have clumped into matter.
According to the theory, all of space is filled by a field - known as the Higgs field, which is mediated by particles known as Higgs bosons.
Other particles gain mass when they interact with the field, much as a person feels resistance from the water - drag - as they wade through a swimming pool.
The boson is the last missing particle in the Standard Model, the most widely accepted theory of how the cosmos works. But the Higgs remains a theoretical construct that has never been observed in a particle accelerator.
Four of the six theoretical physicists credited with coming up with the Higgs mechanism in the 1960s - including Prof Peter Higgs, after whom it is named - have been invited to Cern in Geneva for the presentations, fuelling anticipation of a major announcement.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the signal detected at a mass of 125 gigaelectronvolts (GeV), which was announced in December, has since strengthened.
"We now have more than double the data we had last year," said Cern's director for research and computing, Sergio Bertolucci.
"That should be enough to see whether the trends we were seeing in the 2011 data are still there, or whether they've gone away. It's a very exciting time."
Momentous time
Discovering particles is a numbers game, and scientists analyse many events that could be representative of a Higgs boson being produced in the LHC.
Continue reading the main story
Statistics of a 'discovery'
Particle physics has an accepted definition for a discovery: a "five-sigma" (or five standard-deviation) level of certainty
The number of sigmas measures how unlikely it is to get a certain experimental result as a matter of chance rather than due to a real effect
Similarly, tossing a coin and getting a number of heads in a row may just be chance, rather than a sign of a "loaded" coin
A "three-sigma" level represents about the same likelihood as tossing eight heads in a row
Five sigma, on the other hand, would correspond to tossing more than 20 in a row
Independent confirmation by other experiments turns five-sigma findings into accepted discoveries
The hints of the Higgs revealed in 2011 had a statistical certainty of just two sigma.
Three sigma represents about one in 700 likelihood that a "bump" in the data is down to some statistical fluctuation, in the absence of a Higgs. But the benchmark for a discovery is five sigma, denoting a one-in-3.5 million likelihood that a result is down to such a fluctuation.
Rumours suggest the certainty level has now crept beyond four sigma. This might not be enough to announce that scientists have found the elusive particle. But it would suggest the LHC's scientists are within touching distance, and several physicists privately say that such a signal is now unlikely to go away.
Also, the idea that some systemic error could affect all the experiments that see hints of the Higgs - including those at the LHC and the US Tevatron machine (which search for the particle in different ways) - seems just as improbable.
But if and when a new particle is discovered, it will not be clear straight away that it is the Higgs. Physicists will need to characterise its properties in order to confirm whether it is the version of the Higgs predicted by the Standard Model, a "non-conformist" Higgs that hints at new laws of physics, or something else entirely.
This will involve years of detailed and difficult work, said Dr Tony Weidberg, a University of Oxford physicist and member of one of the LHC's experimental teams, Atlas.
He told BBC News that even at a certainty level of five sigma, "you're very far from proving it's a Higgs particle at all, let alone a Standard Model Higgs".
Dr Shears explained that particle physics had seen nothing like this present phase of exploration "in 40 years".
Compared with previous particle accelerators, she said, "the LHC does have that power, that [large] amount of data generated, that precision".
"Everything is coming together to achieve this moment."
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