  Back in 1964, the theoretical physicists Francois Englert and Robert Brout,
as well as Peter Higgs, suggested an explanation for the fact that most
elementary particles - such as the electron - have a mass. This scenario
predicted a new particle, which has been observed experimentally only just now
at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research). This discovery led to
the Physics Nobel Prize 2013. Here we sketch in simple terms the concept of the
Higgs mechanism, and its importance in particle physics.
