standard model validated

As everyone who hasn’t been living under a rock already knows, CERN’s claiming that the LHC has found proof of the existence of the Higgs Boson. If true, it means that the standard model now adequately explains the properties of mass and gravity. The finding of the particle is very similar to the way that early chemists “filled in the blanks of the periodic table” by making the assumption that the model reflected a real state of affairs and looking for the missing pieces.

It’s sad that the USA has essentially shut down our particle physics exploration at the federal level, and it’s too bad the Tevatron didn’t find the Higgs boson in their last run for glory.