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March is Women's History Month!

Brace Yourself For Higgs Boson News

So the rumors are a flying about that boson thingie again. This week scientists will be holding a seminar (July 4 of all days) to update the community on the search for the Higgs Boson. The Higgs is last the piece (particle) of the grand edifice called the Standard Model of Particle Physics. It provides, among other things, a way for massive particles to act massive - meaning it is through interactions with Higgs particles that other flecks of matter gain the resistance to changes in motion we call inertia.

Last year scientists found tantalizing hints of the Higgs existence but they did not have enough data to say anything conclusive. If they can claim a definitive "find" soon a great mystery about the nature of matter will have been solved and the noble prize committee will be firing up their application process.

We shall see what the world has in store for us.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Adam Frank was a contributor to the NPR blog 13.7: Cosmos & Culture. A professor at the University of Rochester, Frank is a theoretical/computational astrophysicist and currently heads a research group developing supercomputer code to study the formation and death of stars. Frank's research has also explored the evolution of newly born planets and the structure of clouds in the interstellar medium. Recently, he has begun work in the fields of astrobiology and network theory/data science. Frank also holds a joint appointment at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, a Department of Energy fusion lab.