On
the Fourth of July, in Geneva, Switzerland, scientists at CERN (The
European Organization for Nuclear Research) announced that they think
they have finally found traces of the elusive Higgs boson. A boson is a
subatomic particle. Peter Higgs is the physicist who proposed the
existence of this particular -- and apparently important -- particle
almost 50 years ago.
The scientists at CERN made the discovery with the help of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It is configured in a large circle almost 17 miles in length. It's buried 500 feet underground, beneath the border between France and Switzerland. It cost more than $10 billion to build. It smashes atomic particles and a beam of light travels the length of the LHC 11,000 times per second.
Why is this discovery important? In a nutshell, discovery of traces of what could be the "Higgs boson" indicates that the "Higgs field" may actually exist. It's the "Higgs field" that gives mass to elementary particles. In other words, the Higgs field converts the invisible into the visible and the immaterial into the material. It makes something out of nothing. It, in essence, holds everything together at the molecular level.
Perhaps because of its incredible importance in the creation of matter, the Higgs boson has been given the rather sensational nickname of "The God Particle."
Some physicists are calling this the most important discovery in a century. Others say it's the most important scientific discovery of all time. Interestingly, the function of the Higgs boson was theorized in 1964, possibly confirmed in 2012, but revealed more than 19 centuries ago.
The Bible says that there is an active, binding force that literally holds all the matter of the universe together. It identifies that force as the Word of God. A literal translation of Hebrews 11:3 says, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed by the (spoken) Word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible." In Colossians 1:15-17, Paul also identifies that binding force: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation... all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
It's fascinating to me that the Bible accurately described molecular concepts and forces that scientists only began to encounter and understand in the mid-20th century. But then, since the Bible was inspired by the Creator Himself, that should come as no surprise.
The scientists at CERN made the discovery with the help of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It is configured in a large circle almost 17 miles in length. It's buried 500 feet underground, beneath the border between France and Switzerland. It cost more than $10 billion to build. It smashes atomic particles and a beam of light travels the length of the LHC 11,000 times per second.
Why is this discovery important? In a nutshell, discovery of traces of what could be the "Higgs boson" indicates that the "Higgs field" may actually exist. It's the "Higgs field" that gives mass to elementary particles. In other words, the Higgs field converts the invisible into the visible and the immaterial into the material. It makes something out of nothing. It, in essence, holds everything together at the molecular level.
Perhaps because of its incredible importance in the creation of matter, the Higgs boson has been given the rather sensational nickname of "The God Particle."
Some physicists are calling this the most important discovery in a century. Others say it's the most important scientific discovery of all time. Interestingly, the function of the Higgs boson was theorized in 1964, possibly confirmed in 2012, but revealed more than 19 centuries ago.
The Bible says that there is an active, binding force that literally holds all the matter of the universe together. It identifies that force as the Word of God. A literal translation of Hebrews 11:3 says, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed by the (spoken) Word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible." In Colossians 1:15-17, Paul also identifies that binding force: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation... all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
It's fascinating to me that the Bible accurately described molecular concepts and forces that scientists only began to encounter and understand in the mid-20th century. But then, since the Bible was inspired by the Creator Himself, that should come as no surprise.
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