IT WAS one of the most anticipated announcements about one of the worst-kept secrets in science, and it dealt with discoveries that few of us genuinely understand. Screeds have already been written about the news of the new boson – which seems almost certainly the long sought-after Higgs boson – but some of the most interesting things about it concern the way the news came out.
Cern has been through a couple of cycles of speculation since the Large Hadron Collider was first fired up, and so knew exactly what to expect. Its people were strictly forbidden from blogging, tweeting, or otherwise speculating on the 4 July announcement, for fear of blowing the story too soon. Of course, social media was alive with rumour anyway, which was only boosted when an alert editor at Science News spotted a new video posted on Cern’s own website, a day before the press conference.
This carried an interview with Cern spokesman Joe Incandela, in which he explicitly confirmed that a new boson was found and revealed many technical details of the discovery. It didn’t stay on the cern website for long, but long enough for members of the press to download a copy using the links helpfully provided and to store a copy for, um, safe keeping. I put the Labhomepage copy on our Youtube channel for just that reason.
One question remains: is this the Higgs, or not? From what I’ve seen, there is no characteristic of the particle yet measured that is inconsistent with the Standard Model expectations of the Higgs. If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quarks like a duck, chances are that it is a duck.
I hope you find the LabHomepage website, and this weekly newsletter, useful. Comments and feedback are always welcome: thesecretlabproject@gmail.com. Please help us build our circulation base by forwarding this to any friends that might like it, and suggest they subscribe at http://eepurl.com/itOV2
best wishes
Russ Swan
editor, LabHomepage.com
This week’s top stories: 25 May 2012
1. Nanoparticle tracking analysis to characterise exosomes
NANOPARTICLE Tracking Analysis (NTA) is being used to characterise exosomes for use in delivering therapeutic moieties to specific tissues in vivo at the Science and Engineering…
2. Microplate reader measures luminescence, fluorescence, and absorbance
A SECOND-generation microplate reader from Berthold Technologies, the TriStar2, employs a new ‘all-4-one’ optical arrangement which enables luminescence, fluorescence…
3. Sensor electrodes use silver but no mercury
A NEW series of pH and reference electrodes from Sensorex promise the performance of mercury chloride (calomel) electrodes but without the mercury and its associated…
http://labhomepage.com/2236/detectors-and-sensors/sensor-electrodes-use-silver-but-no-mercury/
4. Lab seeks long term answers to foot and mouth
THE WORLD reference laboratory for foot and mouth disease (FMD) at Pirbright has won funding of £2million to boost its status as the global centre of expertise on…
http://labhomepage.com/2232/science-news/lab-seeks-long-term-answers-to-foot-and-mouth/
5. Freeze drying course goes back to basics
A NEW four-part online training course to help scientists acquire a basic understanding of freeze drying – a prerequisite for those working on lyophilisation….
http://labhomepage.com/2227/training-education/freeze-drying-course-goes-back-to-basics/
6. Cern video confirms ‘new boson’ has been found
IN AN apparently accidental leak on the Cern website, the discovery of a new boson has been revealed. The scientific community is widely expecting an…
http://labhomepage.com/2221/research/cern-video-confirms-new-boson-has-been-found/
7. High pressure reactions in parallel
DESIGNED to be used in conjunction with a simple benchtop magnetic stirrer or stirrer/hotplate, the Asynt Parallel High Pressure Reactor is described as a cost-effective…
http://labhomepage.com/2216/labware/high-pressure-reactions-in-parallel/
8. Field-of-view calculations on an iPhone
A PAIR of new iPhone apps from Resolve Optics simplify lens field of view (FOV) calculations. Suitable for optics professionals and camera enthusiasts alike, the apps eliminate…
http://labhomepage.com/2210/software/field-of-view-calculations-on-an-iphone/
9. Protein crystallisation studies rely on temperature stage
TRADITIONAL methods for growing protein crystals are by microplate sitting-drop crystallisation, or hanging-drop methods based on vapour diffusion. These yield a limited…
10. Fish balls may reduce live animal tests
A NOVEL technique involving the use of structures built out of rainbow trout liver cells could reduce the need for lab animal tests in chemical safety studies, a report published…
http://labhomepage.com/2198/research/fish-balls-may-reduce-live-animal-tests/