Health & Science

Higgs discovery sparks new era in physics

Physicists at the CERN lab in Geneva have spotted the Higgs boson, the “God particle” that explains the existence of mass and holds together the Standard Model, the theory that forms the foundation of modern physics. Researchers have searched for the Higgs for 48 years, ever since British physicist Peter Higgs and colleagues predicted its existence. “For physicists, this is the equivalent of Columbus discovering America,” University of Liverpool physicist Themis Bowcock tells Bloomberg.com. The Higgs is evidence that an invisible energy field—activated shortly after the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago—permeates the universe. Without the Higgs field, all particles would have no mass—like the photons that create light—and would zip chaotically through a universe that would have no atoms, no stars, no planets, and no life. But the Higgs field acts like an invisible sea of cosmic molasses, slowing down certain types of particles, including the quarks and electrons that make up atoms, making them react to each other in ways described by the laws of physics. “This boson is a very profound thing,” says CERN spokesman Joe Incandela. “It’s a key to the structure of the universe.”

Physicists sought the Higgs by smashing protons together at nearly the speed of light in CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. Researchers sifted through the debris from more than 1,000 trillion collisions looking for evidence of a decaying Higgs. The data pointed to the existence of the particle almost exactly where the Standard Model predicted it would be found, at about 126 billion electron volts. But the findings contained “just enough differences” with theory to keep some questions unresolved, says California Institute of Technology physicist Sean Carroll. Some physicists hope the new particle turns out to be an unexpected variation of the Higgs—or multiple Higgs particles. A more complex Higgs, physicists say, might provide clues about another grand mystery: why 96 percent of the universe appears to be invisible “dark matter” and “dark energy.”

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Drinking while pregnant

Pregnant women may not need to fear an occasional glass of wine after all, reports BBC.com. Researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark tracked the alcohol consumption of more than 1,600 Danish women from the start of their pregnancies until their children were born. They then tested the children’s IQs, attention spans, and self-control at age 5. Researchers found that having as many as eight drinks per week on average had no effect on a child’s well-being. Even the children of women who binged a few times while pregnant, having five or more drinks in one sitting, tested normally. Only women who indulged in nine or more drinks per week gave birth to children who suffered decreased attention spans. Despite the results, researchers caution that they can’t say for sure what, if any, level of alcohol intake is safe if you’re expecting. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it would continue to recommend the most conservative option—not drinking at all.

Tomatoes with no taste

Tomato lovers have long known that the red fruit sold by supermarkets tastes like cardboard. A new study has found why: A genetic mutation that gives commercially produced tomatoes their uniform color also prevents the production of sugars and carotenoids that give a proper tomato its taste—and health benefits. The mutation “is in literally 100 percent of modern breeds sold in grocery stores today,” Harry Klee, a geneticist at the University of Florida, tells DiscoveryNews.com. That’s because 70 years ago, farmers began widely breeding a type of tomato that, at harvest time, turned an even green color that then became a smooth scarlet shade on the supermarket shelf. What they didn’t realize was that this type of tomato has a mutation that hinders the production of chlorophyll, the green pigment in plants that converts sunlight into sugar during photosynthesis. Wild tomatoes produce more chlorophyll than supermarket varieties do, ripening into an uneven, darker green first, then a splotchier red. They’re less pretty, but pack more sugar and oxidant-fighting carotenoids—and flavor. Researchers say breeding the mutation out of current grocery-store tomatoes—which might make them more delicious but homelier—could take years.

How to do your best thinking

If you’ve got a problem to solve, you may want to do your thinking in a coffee shop instead of in a quiet office. A new study shows that a moderate level of background noise actually promotes creativity more than silence does, ScienceDaily.com reports. Researchers from the University of Illinois put groups of volunteers in rooms featuring different levels of restaurant and traffic noise or pure quiet. Then they gave them creativity tests—like asking them to brainstorm ideas. Those who were exposed to moderate levels of noise came up with the most original ideas; meanwhile, those exposed to high levels of sound, 85 decibels or louder, fared the worst. Researchers said that a moderately busy environment can make your brain work harder to process your thoughts—which can jar you out of a mental rut.