The "God Particle"


Photo by pardeshi


When you see an article titled Key scientist sure "God particle" will be found soon what do you expect to read in the article? Most likely something about a scientist talking about the possibility of a discovery, one he believes is either evidence for the existence of God, or a good indication of it, right?

Wrong (emphasis mine):

GENEVA (Reuters) - British physicist Peter Higgs said on Monday it should soon be possible to prove the existence of a force which gives mass to the universe and makes life possible -- as he first argued 40 years ago.

Higgs said he believes a particle named the "Higgs boson," which originates from the force, will be found when a vast particle collider at the CERN research centre on the Franco-Swiss border begins operating fully early next year.

...

Today, the existence of the invisible field is widely accepted by scientists, who believe it came into being milliseconds after the Big Bang created the universe some 15 billion years ago.

...

Scientists at the centre hope the process will produce clear signs of the boson, dubbed the "God particle" by some, to the displeasure of Higgs, an atheist.


Still, when you're an atheist, I guess a wildly inaccurate and misleading headline about your life's work is a step up from being told you're a danger to children and a destroyer.