RAPID RESPONSES
Higgs resurrected
After Philip Ball’s Forum piece on the Higgs boson [Physicists are hunting for a so-called God particle, but their faith is dwindling fast, 25 November] I had begun to wonder if the £6bn large hadron collider was simply the most expensive piece of scientific equipment that had ever been set up to search for something that wasn’t there. (Admittedly, I found Ball’s suggestion that a missing Higgs might mean the real building blocks of our universe are a kind of quantum macrame was an entertaining consolation prize.)
However, the new hints of the Higgs found by Cern, as announced yesterday, if not full proof, are at least a tantalising suggestion that the grand experiment could really have something to show for its price tag. Scientists renewing faith in the run-up to Christmas? Heretical results indeed.
Guy Lehn