Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln describes the nature of the Higgs
boson. Updated 9:50 a.m. ET Dec. 13: Physicists have revealed
what they've found so far in their quest for the Higgs boson at
Europe's Large Hadron Collider on Tuesday, after days of buildup
that put the "God particle" on a par with Obi-Wan Kenobi and the
Force. But the Higgs boson isn't a religious experience, and it
won't help you destroy the Death Star. So what is the Higgs? And
what do scientists know about it? Here's a small guide to the
Large Hadron Collider's latest: Why it's important: For decades,
physicists have used a theory known as the Standard Model to
explain the interactions of subatomic particles, and the theory
works beautifully. It's guided our way through the world of
nuclear power, television, microwave ovens and lasers. One
problem: The theory needed something extra to explain why some
particles have mass and some don't. Back in the 1960s, physicist
Peter Higgs and his colleagues proposed the existence of a
mysterious energ