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What Is the Higgs Boson?

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Video of the Week #50 July 4th, 2012:

From: What Is the Higgs Boson? [Video] by George Musser at Critical Opalescence.

Source: George Musser and Eric Olson at Scientific American.

In this week’s Instant Egghead, George Musser explains the ideas behind the Higgs particles. Are you wondering exactly what the Higgs boson is all about, and why it’s important? George breaks it down with simple animations and a clearly written script.

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  1. 1. dmoffittsmith 5:09 pm 07/5/2012

    This video reminds me of the use of aether to explain propogation of waves or particles. How does this reconcile with the absolute value for the speed of light? Is the higs “field” or “foam” totally unlike the aether? If so what is it actuall “like” and also, what is it’s mechanism for imparting mass?

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  2. 2. donhill 12:48 am 07/6/2012

    Nice talk
    When I was in the Navy, I knew a boson’s mate. I believed in him, he kept the boat afloat.
    You fit into the new thinkers category and I would like to see you expand your “field” to the entire universe. Consider that 90% of the unseen matter fills the universe with Planck sized particles surround by a force field casing vibrations at unmeasurably high frequencies freely passing through everything. They transmit Newtons corpuscles from the source until they are dissipated and continue through the matter. Don’t feel put down by relating your ideas to Newtonian thinking. Einstein in his address of 1922 said his theory required Aether, “Ether”.

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  3. 3. iahlert 3:50 pm 07/6/2012

    Thanks for your interesting explanations, which included details that I have never heard before. A question: you mentioned that the Higgs condensate makes the space a physical medium. If particles acquire mass in a Higgs field, and if – as I presume it is reasonable to assume – the Higgs field is in turn influenced by its interactions with particles, do we still need a separate “gravitational field” and hypothetical “gravitons”? The Higgs field is said to permeate the whole universe. Einstein suggested that the true effect of gravity is that space is warped around mass. If space = Higgs field, can we conclude that it is the Higgs field that is warped by interacting with the particles? Gravity or the warping of the Higgs field would therefore be not the effect of the existence of mass, rather an active element of the very process that creates mass. Well, I can’t say that I have really understood the whole thing.

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  4. 4. donhill 9:35 pm 07/6/2012

    I am writing a paper on my interpretation of Aether going back 2500 years and its part in atomic reactions
    The universe cycles from expanding to collapsing into a black hole which is not a hole. It is a mass that has been crushed with enough energy to strip all the particles of their properties into a single mass, When all the mass of the universe is collected, all the force of the universe is being exerted to crush the mass, the energy fields extend the ends of the universe. Then BANG, the mass shatters into Planck size particles in less time than you can read one word. Each bit is surrounded by some of the force field causing the particle to vibrate
    These are now the Aether that still fills the universe. In the last few billion years, many have evolved by combining into thousands of subatomic particles. hundreds of elements. and millions of types of matter. The gravity of all matter extends to the edge of the Universe.
    The remaining Aether fills the other 95%, Being interconnected by vibrations this physical contact allows forces to be generated and transmitted through the Universe. Aether senses magnetic, electric, and gravity at the speed of light and instantaneously transfers the data to adjoining particles. By studying the variations of light travel through transparent media the differences can be seen to vary from vacuum to air to ice to water. The denser material (higher concentration of Aether), more transfers make for slower time travel. These vibrations provide the background music measured in every direction of space.

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  5. 5. Dilbert2 3:57 am 07/9/2012

    Well done!

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  6. 6. willfree 1:36 pm 07/13/2012

    When I hear a drug will cure cancer and arthritis and depression and cirrhosis of the liver and the common cold, I do not need to do research to know it is a scam. The more problems I hear that the Higgs fixes, the more suspicious I become about the Higgs. This video leaves me with more questions than I had before I watched it. I think what I need is a “Very Slow Egghead” video on the Higgs.

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  7. 7. 4:04 am 07/14/2012

    Please make this videos downloadable, here the internet speed is very bad

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  8. 8. storm55 1:39 am 07/15/2012

    That was a good video.
    This video below explains the Higgs Boson cartoonstyle and clearly…

    Link to this
  9. 9. NatalieVDM 9:32 am 07/17/2012

    Cool video, but a bit complicated… Here’s an excellent animation for dummies :-)

    Link to this

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