Category Archives: Physics

Is there any such thing as “nothing”?

Posted on 12/05/2013 by

That’s a question I got on twitter just now after the Feynman gig from @elainepixie. I said (broken down into 140 character chunks): One definition of “nothing” is “vacuum”, by which physicists mean “lowest energy state”. That exists. But in … Continue reading →

Posted in Particle Physics, Philosophy of Science, Physics, Science | Tagged | 1 Comment

Should we change the Higgs boson’s name?

Posted on 28/04/2013 by

I wrote this piece on the blog about Higgs boson naming, and was then asked to write something for g2. This appeared on the web here (not in the usual Life & Physics slot, hence this post so I can … Continue reading →

Posted in Cosmology, Particle Physics, Physics, Physics Stories, Rambling | Tagged , ,

Ask a grown-up: is there anything smaller than an atom?

Posted on 25/04/2013 by

And another non-”Life & Physics” article posted here so I can find it. One of the Guardian Weekend “Ask a grown-up” series. Most common response: “You did better than Sir Ranulph Fiennes”…

Posted in Particle Physics, Physics, Science | Tagged ,

Why does the Higgs decay?

Posted on 22/06/2012 by

Higgs bosons might be being produced at CERN right now, but we can’t keep them. Lily Asquith explains… here.

Posted in Particle Physics, Physics, Science | Tagged

My three least favourite quarks

Posted on 17/05/2011 by

Also at The Guardian. Quarks are what dragged me into this mess. I’ve done about 50 hours work in the last 4 days and have run out of clean cutlery. My fridge contains only an empty tub of hummus and … Continue reading →

Posted in Particle Physics, Physics, Science | Tagged , ,

My favourite particle: the muon

Posted on 14/05/2011 by

Post by Mark Lancaster. Also at The Guardian. In 1900, shortly after the electron and radioactivity were discovered, Lord Kelvin famously remarked: “There is nothing new to be discovered in physics. All that remains is more and more precise measurement” … Continue reading →

Posted in Particle Physics, Physics, Science | Tagged

Told you so…

Posted on 11/05/2011 by

At The Guardian.

Posted in Particle Physics, Physics, Science | Tagged , , ,

Rumours of the Higgs at ATLAS

Posted on 24/04/2011 by

At The Guardian.

Posted in Particle Physics, Philosophy of Science, Physics, Science | Tagged , , , ,

Large Hadron Collider sets world record beam intensity

Posted on 22/04/2011 by

At The Guardian.

Posted in Particle Physics, Physics, Science | Tagged ,

Having the Higgs in the room

Posted on 22/04/2011 by

Also at The Guardian It is a beautiful thing that Peter Higgs did. He took a very complicated description of reality that explained some things so well it could not be ignored, and utterly failed to explain other things, things … Continue reading →

Posted in Particle Physics, Philosophy of Science, Physics, Science | Tagged ,