lhc

CERN kicks off LHC's 2012 Higgs hunt

The European nuclear research agency CERN collided two high-power proton beams in the early hours of Thursday morning, marking the beginning of this year's Large Hadron Collider physics data collection.

The colliding beams were each of an intensity of 4 teraelectronvolts (TeV), and the resulting 8 TeV collision energy is the most powerful the particle accelerator has managed yet. In 2011's experiments, collisions went up to 7 TeV and, following the 20-month shut-down that will take place from November, CERN hopes to achieve LHC collision energy of 13 then 14 TeV.

"The experience of two good years … Read more

Higgs boson, you can run but you can't hide

Physicists based in the U.S. today presented evidence of the Higgs boson particle that correlates closely with European researchers' work at the Large Hadron Collider.

Researchers released an analysis of 10 years worth of data from the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, which provide more hints of the Higgs boson, but not a conclusive finding.

The data, presented at a physics conference in Italy, indicate that the particle could exist at a mass of between 115 gigaelectronvolts and 135 gigaelectronvolts. This result is consistent with the last December's finding from CERN's Large Hadron Collider in … Read more

CERN physicists find hint of Higgs boson

Researchers at the CERN particle accelerator have found "intriguing hints" of the Higgs boson, a moment of major progress in years of previously unfruitful searching for the elusive subatomic particle.

The search for the Higgs boson is the top priority of CERN's massive and expensive Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland. Its Atlas experiment showed a statistically suspicious increase in activity that indicates the Higgs could be pinned down with a mass of 126 giga-electron-volts, and showing some important agreement, its independent CMS experiment found a possible result nearby at 124GeV.

"We observe an excess of … Read more

Has Higgs been discovered? Rumors of watershed news build

The physics buzz reached a frenzy in the past few days over the announcement that the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva is planning to release what is widely expected to be tantalizing--although not conclusive--evidence for the existence of the Higgs boson, the elementary particle hypothesized to be the origin of the mass of all matter.

Many physicists have already swung into action, swapping rumors about the contents of the announcement and proposing grand ideas about what those rumors would mean, if true. "It's impossible to be excited enough," says Gordon Kane, a theoretical physicist at the University … Read more

Hints of new physics postpone LHC upgrade

The Large Hadron Collider, CERN's particle accelerator straddling the border of Switzerland and France, is due to shut down for a major upgrade later than expected, after managers concluded the current rate of operational improvements could reveal new physical phenomena.

The LHC is a mammoth tool best known for its search for the Higgs boson--or more likely, some believe, a suite of them--and its other probes of the bizarre realm of subatomic physics. By colliding particles in two high-energy beams of protons, or more recently lead ions, physicists can re-create conditions present near the Big Bang.

Currently the … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1369: If it Biebs, it leads (podcast)

Twitter's top trending topics of 2010 sadly didn't include #mollyontopgear, but it's kind of a plus that Justin Bieber was only around No. 8. Also today, the 4Chan kids go crazy on Gawker and you know what? Innocent people are being caught in this hacker-gang crossfire, and it's frankly just not all that funny anymore. (If, um, it ever was.) Also, could Verizon make my universal data plan dreams come true? --Molly

Buzz Out Loud 1346: RockMelt our hearts (podcast)

Happy Monday, everyone! On today's show, we're loving the new RockMelt browser, even though yes, we know, we could do the same thing with extensions. We just don't want to. Also, Apple doesn't care if you make it to work on time, they're not fixing that DST alarm bug. Maybe you're just waking up wring. Also, we go crazy for the Call of Duty: Black Ops ad and I launch the most unfair phone-return plan ever. --Molly

Buzz Out Loud 1277: You can hack DMCA. Legally. (podcast)

The U.S. copyright office now says that there are instances in which you may hack, fold, spindle, or mutilate copy protection, but just a few, and don't go breaking any other contracts while you're at it. Also, Microsoft wants its employees to build Windows 7 phone apps... for free!

LHC firing on all cylinders, but no Higgs boson yet

It took 100 years to discover all the physics particles that have thus far been observed. It took the Large Hadron Collider four months.

That's the report Monday from the International Conference on High-Energy Physics in Paris, where LHC researchers announced they've successfully retraced the steps of earlier particle accelerators. The final step was the likely view of a super-heavy and short-lived particle called the top quark, first seen in 1995 at Fermilab's Tevatron accelerator near Chicago.

"They have re-found all the known particles in the standard model," the successful but ultimately insufficient explanation that … Read more

Week in review: One iPhone mystery solved?

AT&T says it has solved the iPhone's sluggish upload speeds.

The communications giant is blaming the phone's poor upload speeds in some areas on 3G wireless gear from supplier Alcatel-Lucent. AT&T issued a statement saying a software glitch in the Alcatel-Lucent equipment is limiting data upload speeds for smartphones and data sticks using the latest version of 3G technology known as HSUPA. HSUPA is an acronym for High Speed Upload Packet Access. It increases upload speeds to between 500 kilobits per second and 1.2 megabits per second.

Since the iPhone 4 is currently … Read more