The particle is part of a 50-year-old theory proposed by physicist and atheist Peter Higgs, who believed that a subatomic particle existed that held everything together and is what gives matter mass. He believed that the particle held the key to the universe.
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, also known as CERN, made the announcement in front of a group of scientists, claiming that they were 99.99% sure that they had discovered the particle that Higgs alluded to in 1964.
“As a layman I now say, I think we have it,” claimed Rolf-Dieter Heuer, CERN’s director, following a presentation about the discovered particle. “We have discovered a new particle consistent with the Higgs boson. It’s a historic milestone today.”
Physicists then stood to their feet in applause and cheered. Peter Higgs, who was present at the gathering, was reported to have had tears in his eyes.
“Physicists look to particles to explain forces in the universe. In the physicists’ theories, electromagnetic and nuclear forces don’t need particles with mass to work. But the particles do have mass, so we need an explanation for why,” Paul Padley of Rice University, who is on one of the research teams, told USA Today.
He also explained the procedure that led to the discovery.
“Essentially, two teams collected data in separate experiments that smashed together millions of subatomic particles called protons to see what pieces emerged from the smash-ups,” Padley said. “The particle reported on Wednesday fell to pieces in ways predicted by Higgs and other physicists.”
Many physicists wince at the idea of the particle being dubbed as “the God particle,” preferring rather to believe that their discovery illustrates how “the Big Bang” came into being.
“We think a particle like the Higgs boson was actually a match that set off this cosmic explosion, which created everything we see around us, including the earth and even us,” stated theoretic physicist Michio Kaku at City University of New York.
However, others believe that the particle, if it indeed is genuine, rather gives further support and evidence as to how God created the world to function and hold together from the beginning.
“[People] should also note that no one has actually ‘seen’ this Higg’s boson. You cannot pick it up by shining light on it, as you would with macroscopic articles. So, in practice, the experimenters at CERN have taken a lot of measurements of field perturbations and have lots of numbers, a great deal of which fall into the range, which they predicted that they would obtain, if the Higg’s boson existed,” outlined Paul Taylor of Creation Today. “Therefore, the existence of the Higg’s boson is an inference rather than a direct observation.”
“If these scientists are making us more aware of the amazing way in which God maintains this universe that He has created for us, then this is a good thing, and we can share their excitement,” he added. “There is nothing in any of these experiments that can ever, under any circumstances, disprove God, and inventing a new mythology of a ‘God particle’ only makes our critics, with a minimal knowledge of what is actually happening, look foolish. If you think my use of the word ‘foolish’ is insulting, then I should point out that I am using the word in exactly the same way that the Bible does in Psalm 14:1.”
The particle was allegedly discovered through the researchers’ use of a large Hadron collider, near Geneva, Switzerland. Explosions of various molecules were set off inside of the contraption, which is 17 miles in circumference, in order to study the various reactions.
Physicists have not yet explained where the particle came from.