The god particle

This has to be one of the most ground-breaking discoveries in years!  BBC and CNN had the feature on its headline.  Inquirer had it in the Technology Section.


The discovery of the new subatomic particle "Higgs Boson" will pave the way for more convention-defying scientific breakthroughs in the future.  Up until the discovery, the particle is a theoretical particle.  And for years, scientists have worked hard on this.  Friends from TTA said the research had been long and tedious which is why they originally called it the "Goddamn particle".  But of course, they cannot publicly name it like that thus the God particle.


Why is the discovery important?  How important is it?
As per the Associated Press article, "Discovery of the particle is seen as as the key to our understanding of why matter has mass, which combines with gravity to give an object weight. The idea is much like gravity and Isaac Newton’s discovery of it: Gravity was there all the time before Newton explained it. But now scientists know what a boson is and can put that knowledge to further use."


As a big fan of science, I began to reflect on what it was like during the time of Newton and Galileo.  I could imagine the whole world thinking Newton was crazy when he was trying to explain the concept of gravity.  Galileo probably had it worse when he tried to explain that the center of the solar system is the sun, not Earth.  During that time decisions and facts - even scientific ones - are controlled by the church.  


Good thing that the discovery happened now, when information flows freely thru various media especially the internet.  So it would be more difficult to control.  


Let's join the scientific community in celebrating the discovery of the century.

http://technology.inquirer.net/13327/eureka-physicists-celebrate-evidence-of-particle