The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Scientists find signs of missing ‘god particle’ Posted: 13 Dec 2011 07:04 AM PST GENEVA, Dec 13 — International scientists said today they had found signs of the Higgs boson, an elementary particle believed to have played a vital role in the creation of the universe after the Big Bang. Scientists at the CERN physics research centre near Geneva said, however, they had found no conclusive proof of the existence of the particle which, according to prevailing theories of physics, gives everything in the universe its mass.  The Higgs boson is, in theory, the particle that gives mass to all other fundamental particles. — interactions.org pic The leaders of two experiments, ALTAS and CMS, revealed their findings to a packed seminar at CERN, where they have tried to find traces of the elusive boson by smashing particles together in the Large Hadron Collider at high speed. "Both experiments have the signals pointing in essentially the same direction," said Oliver Buchmueller, senior physicist on CMS. "It seems that both Atlas and us have found the signals are at the same mass level. That is obviously very important." Fabiola Gianotti, the scientist in charge of the ATLAS experiment, said ALTAS had narrowed the search to a signal centred at around 126 GeV (Giga electron volts), which would be compatible with the expected strength of a Standard Model Higgs. "I think it would be extremely kind of the Higgs boson to be here," she told a seminar to discuss the findings. "But it is too early" for final conclusions, she said. "More studies and more data are needed. The next few months will be very exciting ... I don't know what the conclusions will be." Homing in Under what is known as the Standard Model of Physics, the boson, named after British physicist Peter Higgs, is posited to have been the agent that gave mass and energy to matter after the Big Bang creation of the universe 13.7 billion years ago. While its discovery would cement current knowledge about particles such as electrons and photons, results of work at CERN could also prove it does not exist. Such an outcome would undermine the foundations of accepted theories of the make-up of the universe. "If the first inklings of the Higgs boson are confirmed, then this is just the start of the adventure to unlock the secrets of the fundamental constituents of the Universe," said Stephen Haywood, Head of the Atlas Group at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. The ATLAS results were followed by explanation of the second experiment, CMS. "We are homing in on the Higgs," said Claire Shepherd-Themistocleus, Head of the CMS Group at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. "We have had hints today of what its mass might be and the excitement of scientists is palpable. Whether this is ultimately confirmed or we finally rule out a low mass Higgs boson, we are on the verge of a major change in our understanding of the fundamental nature of matter." Twitter feeds were choked by the volume of tweets mentioning CERN or Higgs and the webcast from CERN http://webcast.web.cern.ch/webcast/ struggling to cope with demand from Higgs-hunters. "It can still happen that it is a fluctuation, but all we see from both experiments is compatible with what we would expect for a Higgs signal to build up," said Buchmueller. "But we really need the data from next year to be sure of what we're seeing." — Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Economy crisis saves Spanish ruins but buries future Posted: 12 Dec 2011 11:40 PM PST  A child looking up in wonderment in a chamber of the La Pastora dolmen. — Reuters pic But the economic crisis that ended the building boom that buried some of the country's greatest archaeological treasures under shopping malls and new housing may also be bad news for those hoping to provide lasting safeguards for Spain's remaining tholos dolmens or passage tombs. The Aljarafe region outside the city of Seville in southern Spain, with a rich Arabic and Christian history, is believed to house Europe's most extensive grouping of tholos dolmens, dating back some 5,000 years. Many of these archaeological treasures were buried under new construction during a decade-long building craze that swept across Spain and left 1.5 million vacant homes when it ended. A debt crisis ravaging Spain's economy has saved some of the dolmens by freezing funds for construction. But the credit crunch also means scarce money to explore these little-known Copper Age settlements and turn them into tourist centres. "It's as if we had a gold mine under our feet; all we need is the investment muscle to reap the benefit," said Juan Manuel Vargas, a local archaeologist. "I don't see this latent potential in any other industry or sector." Vargas is head archaeologist in Valencina de la Concepcion, a small town outside of Seville and home to many dolmens, two of which — La Pastora and Matarrubilla — are open to the public and receive about 10,000 visitors a year.  Passageway in the La Pastora dolmen. — Reuters pic La Pastora dolmen in Valencina boasts the longest corridor ever discovered in a passage grave in Europe, while its sister Matarrubilla houses a stone altar inside its burial chamber offering clues into the funerary rituals of early settlers. Driving along a dirt road to La Pastora past rolling hills dotted with olive trees under a brilliant sun, it is easy to imagine the centuries of civilisations that have inhabited this mystical land. But the visitor is catapulted back into the present upon reaching the dolmen. The chamber sits beside a giant telecommunications tower, and empty beer bottles are strewn inches from an archaeological site that provided a range of ancient artifacts before excavations were halted after the funds ran out. "It's a problem of mentality," said Vargas. "After seeing it every day, our residents aren't aware of what they're living next to." The youth are not the only ones who have failed to recognise the historical value of the land underneath their beer bottles. The Montelirio dolmen, a unique two-chamber structure in neighbouring Castilleja de Guzman, was nearly suffocated by plans to build a supermarket and a retirement home. CHIEF AND 19 WOMEN In 2007, archaeologists discovered the remains of what they thought was a chieftain in Montelirio, and to their surprise, 19 women believed to have drunk a poison in a ritual to accompany their leader on his journey to the netherworld. The remains of the women sit in a circle in a chamber next to the bones believed to be of their chief. "Montelirio offers important clues into these societies and their possible burial rituals," archaeologist Vicente Aycart said, adding: "Who knows? Maybe this was a matriarchal society and that one man was their favourite eunuch!" Aside from the archaeological wealth yet to be unveiled, these little-known prehistoric sites may prove a profitable tourism mine for a country that needs fresh growth drivers to battle sky-high joblessness and the threat of another recession.  Exploring the La Pastora dolmen. — Reuters pic "Spain has enormous opportunities to further boost cultural tourism linked to music, history, architecture and archaeology," said Jose Luis Zoreda, CEO of Spanish tourist lobby Exceltur. "But given autonomous communities' financial difficulties right now, I don't know if this kind of investment will be on the top of their list in 2012," he said. Spain's indebted autonomous regions, which invested heavily in the construction boom, are now at the heart of financial market concerns that the country may miss its budget deficit target and need a bailout just like Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Plans to create an archaeological park in Aljarafe with a visitors' centre, museum and a route taking visitors from the dolmens to the nearby Phoenician artifacts of El Carambolo and the Roman city Italica are at a standstill. Once money starts to flow again, archaeologists and non-profit associations warned that steps must be taken to protect this triangle of ancient history while developing controlled and sustainable tourism. "The real gem of these places is the scientific depth that we don't even know yet," said Jorge Arevalo, vice-president of a dolmen protection association said. "First we need to create a cultural site. The tourism will come later. "If we don't take care of it, future generations won't be able to enjoy it. We have a responsibility to history." — Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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