CERN finds the Higgs boson

Or, to put it in the cautious words of science, researchers have observed a “particle consistent with long-sought Higgs boson”.

“We observe in our data clear signs of a new particle, at the level of 5 sigma, in the mass region around 126 GeV. The outstanding performance of the LHC and ATLAS and the huge efforts of many people have brought us to this exciting stage,” said ATLAS experiment spokesperson Fabiola Gianotti, “but a little more time is needed to prepare these results for publication.”

“The results are preliminary but the 5 sigma signal at around 125 GeV we’re seeing is dramatic. This is indeed a new particle. We know it must be a boson and it’s the heaviest boson ever found,” said CMS experiment spokesperson Joe Incandela. “The implications are very significant and it is precisely for this reason that we must be extremely diligent in all of our studies and cross-checks.”

How sure are they that they’ve found the Higgs? Brian Cox notes on Twitter:

5 sigma is the usual particle physics threshold for discovery. It roughly means that you’re 99.9999% sure

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