Scientists have discovered a sub-atomic particle they believe is crucial in the formation of the universe.
The Higgs boson, otherwise known as the God particle, is thought to give all other particles in the universe their mass.
Scientists in Geneva and Melbourne say the discovery still needs to be verified, but it is the strongest evidence yet that the particle exists.
The particle is “consistent with (the) long-sought Higgs boson”, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) said in a statement.
Scientists have wrestled with the elusive particle for nearly half a century.
“We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature,” CERN director general Rolf Heuer said.
“The discovery of a particle consistent with the Higgs boson opens the way to more detailed studies, requiring larger statistics, which will pin down the new particle’s properties, and is likely to shed light on other mysteries of our universe.”
Mooted by British physicist Peter Higgs in 1964, the boson is believed to exist in a treacly, invisible, ubiquitous field created by the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago.
When some particles encounter the Higgs, they slow down …
