"God Particle" Could Wipe Out The Universe, Says Steven Hawking

Blackwell Stith

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"God Particle" Could Wipe Out The Universe, Says Steven Hawking



The discovery of the Higgs Boson particle, more colloquially referred to as the "God Particle", helped solidify our basic understanding of particle physics and matter- but could it also have the power to wipe out our universe?

Steven Hawking has never been a fan of the Higgs Boson particle. When the particle was identified back in 2012, he said the discovery made physics less interesting. Recently, in the preface to "Starmus", a collection of essays and lectures written by the theoretical physicist, Hawking warns that the particle has the potential to destroy the known universe.

The notion of a "Higgs Boson doomsday", where a quantum fluctuation forms a vacuum that consumes all of time and space, isn't just some fleeting theory. The idea has been circulating around in the scientific community for quite a while now, but scientists doubt it could happen anytime soon. Fermi National Accelerator [http://home.fnal.gov/~lykken/Home.html], said, "Most likely it will take 10 to the 100 years (a 1 followed by 100 zeroes) for this to happen, so probably you shouldn't sell your house and you should continue to pay your taxes."

The Higgs boson, a tiny particle that signals the existence of the Higgs field that gives mass to matter, is about 126 billion electron volts- or about 126 times the mass of a proton. This charge happens to be the exact mass needed to keep the universe on the brink of instability, but physicists say the delicate state will eventually collapse and the universe will become unstable. That idea comes from the belief that the Higgs field is undergoing changes in order to achieve equilibrium, which could trigger an unfortunate series of events that lead to an all-consuming vacuum. And, in turn, an instantaneous demise for life as we know it.

But, just as the discovery of the "god particle" proved back in 2012, we have yet to discover all there is to know about the universe. Lykken points out that yet-to-be-seen factors, like dark matter and "supersymmetry", could prove this end of the world scenario to be an unnecessary worry. "We found the Higgs boson, which was a big deal, but we're still trying to understand what it means and we're also trying to understand all the other things that go along with it."

Source: livescience [http://www.livescience.com/47737-stephen-hawking-higgs-boson-universe-doomsday.html]

For more Science and Tech news, check out this [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/137232-Scientists-Explain-Grandfather-Paradox-With-Time-Travel-Simulation] article about the Grandfather Paradox!



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Thaluikhain

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Starts off saying it makes physics less exciting, then saying it'll destroy the universe?

Did it run over his cat or something?
 

Scorpid

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Oh science never stop looking for ways that our universe will end and why it matters so little anyway.
 

SNCommand

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Steve Hawking has the occasional strange opinion, I'll chalk this up to be one of them, it sounds a bit arrogant to think we will be the ones to end the universe when the size of it is unfathomable for the human mind
 

kirwan464

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please dont be selling this fear mongering.
What hawking actually said is that if we used a hadron colider the size of the earth there is a chance it could result in the end of the universe.
 

Fox12

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Jun 6, 2013
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Man, hawking really has a hate boner for this thing. Here, let me try.

"Game of Thrones is too nihilistic, and has no sense of progression. Given the increase of time between books, it will take 10^1000 years to finish book twenty seven, and event that will inevitably summon Cthulhu and destroy the universe."
 

Ryan Hughes

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The Higgs boson, a tiny particle that signals the existence. . .
For future reference, "Boson" should always be capitalized when "Higgs" is capitalized, as both stem from proper pronouns. This has been a serious issue in Asian physics, as the west has been accused of glossing over the work of Satyendra Nath Bose, an Indian physicist who first proposed the existence of such a particle, and who's work Peter Higgs greatly expanded on. Despite having worked with Einstein and other illustrious figures, Bose rarely receives any attention in the west, and many in Asia oppose the "Higgs-" moniker to the Boson particle. Paul Dirac first named the particle after Bose, because it obeyed many of the theorems he and Einstein developed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyendra_Nath_Bose
 

Sarge034

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Well if "god" (take your choice which one, I don't discriminate) could destroy the universe would it not stand to reason that a "god" particle could as well? Checkmate atheists.
 

Daaaah Whoosh

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I find it kind of cool that we keep on finding little particles in our universe that have the power to destroy life as we know it (and then some, in this case). It's also kind of terrifying, because this whole place seems to be teetering on the verge of the biggest explosion in the universe (of the universe?), but at least it all seems pretty stable for now.
 

Happiness Assassin

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Does anyone else find the possibility that we could destroy the fabric of reality kind of awesome? I mean, a slow eventual heat death of the universe where all matter and energy is slowly choked out of existence is infinitely less cool than the hubris of man trying to attain knowledge as "causes of the end."
 

Me55enger

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Anyone else get the feeling sometimes that Stephen Hawking just makes this stuff up?

He is one of the most established physicists in existence. He could turn round tomorrow and state that the existence of Bonnie Tyler loving protons proves that Gordon Brown's man-breasts are called Katherine and Pomegranate and no-one would bat an eyelid.
 

kurokotetsu

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Ryan Hughes said:
The Higgs boson, a tiny particle that signals the existence. . .
For future reference, "Boson" should always be capitalized when "Higgs" is capitalized, as both stem from proper pronouns. This has been a serious issue in Asian physics, as the west has been accused of glossing over the work of Satyendra Nath Bose, an Indian physicist who first proposed the existence of such a particle, and who's work Peter Higgs greatly expanded on. Despite having worked with Einstein and other illustrious figures, Bose rarely receives any attention in the west, and many in Asia oppose the "Higgs-" moniker to the Boson particle. Paul Dirac first named the particle after Bose, because it obeyed many of the theorems he and Einstein developed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyendra_Nath_Bose
While I agree with the capitalization thing and that Bose is too ignored, the "Higgs moniker" is given because, as far as I know, Bose didn't do work on the Higgs, and it is a Boson on the virtue of it being of that family of particles. Like you wouldn't call an electron Fermion, because it is a Fermion, but it is the family of particles.

OT: From other sources this is greatly exagereted and not related to the Boson itself. Se are sitting in a los energy potential, stable state in the theory related to Higgs fields. With a very largo energy that equilibrium could be broken and we could fall into a lower energy state which would destroy the Universe. Our capacities as a species aren't even close to that. Fearmongering indeed.
 

Imp_Emissary

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SNCommand said:
Steve Hawking has the occasional strange opinion, I'll chalk this up to be one of them.
It sounds a bit arrogant to think we will be the ones to end the universe when the size of it is unfathomable for the human mind.
Actually, I think what he's saying is the the Higgs Boson may do this on it's own. At least I think that's what he's saying. Someone correct me if I misread.

The idea is that the "Higgs field" that gives mass to matter is unstable, may change to reach a state of "equilibrium", and doing so may cause the end of the living existence as we know it.

So it's not so much about us humans causing our downfall by extending our reach further than our grasp, but rather a tiny part of our universe's foundation being changed somewhat[sub]("naturally")[/sub], and causing unimaginable damage.

I think. That's what I got from the article anyway.
 

SNCommand

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Imp Emissary said:
SNCommand said:
Steve Hawking has the occasional strange opinion, I'll chalk this up to be one of them.
It sounds a bit arrogant to think we will be the ones to end the universe when the size of it is unfathomable for the human mind.
Actually, I think what he's saying is the the Higgs Boson may do this on it's own. At least I think that's what he's saying. Someone correct me if I misread.

The idea is that the "Higgs field" that gives mass to matter is unstable, may change to reach a state of "equilibrium", and doing so may cause the end of the living existence as we know it.

So it's not so much about us humans causing our downfall by extending our reach further than our grasp, but rather a tiny part of our universe's foundation being changed somewhat[sub]("naturally")[/sub], and causing unimaginable damage.

I think. That's what I got from the article anyway.
I was just presuming since last time the Higgs Boson particle and end of the world was mentioned it was loons who thought the hadron colider would kill us all
 

gigastar

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Me55enger said:
Anyone else get the feeling sometimes that Stephen Hawking just makes this stuff up?
Last i checked the man can only move one muscle in his entire body.

So that would leave alot of time for him to think theese things over before he communicates something he might regret.

Not saying hes never wrong, thats just something to keep in mind.
 

Coldman42

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STOP CALLING IT THE "GOD PARTICLE"!!!

Literally NO ONE in the scientific community has ever referred to it as the "god particle". That was a newspaper purposely miss-quoting one of the scientists who made the discovery because they knew "god particle" would get more papers sold than calling it by its proper name of the Higgs Boson. Please stop perpetuating this stupidity.
 

Imp_Emissary

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SNCommand said:
Imp Emissary said:
SNCommand said:
Steve Hawking has the occasional strange opinion, I'll chalk this up to be one of them.
It sounds a bit arrogant to think we will be the ones to end the universe when the size of it is unfathomable for the human mind.
Actually, I think what he's saying is the the Higgs Boson may do this on it's own. At least I think that's what he's saying. Someone correct me if I misread.

The idea is that the "Higgs field" that gives mass to matter is unstable, may change to reach a state of "equilibrium", and doing so may cause the end of the living existence as we know it.

So it's not so much about us humans causing our downfall by extending our reach further than our grasp, but rather a tiny part of our universe's foundation being changed somewhat[sub]("naturally")[/sub], and causing unimaginable damage.

I think. That's what I got from the article anyway.
I was just presuming since last time the Higgs Boson particle and end of the world was mentioned it was loons who thought the hadron colider would kill us all.
Yeah, I remember that. I thought that was what this was about too, but it doesn't sound like that's the idea.

Based on what the article said at least. I'm no expert on this kind of thing.
 

hino77

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Ok, cool, we finaly have a way to find out if really advanced aliens exist somewhere!, we just have to try and blow up the universe, if they stop us we know they are there, if not, we die! Or you know, it doesnt work and nothing happens.
 

giles

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ARghghrghgh stop calling it "god particle" or I will smack you with my ring hand!

Also of course it's boring that we found a Higgs particle! If it didn't exist, the Standard Model would be fundamentally wrong and would have to make room for a completely new theory.

Lastly, this is hardly surprising. We know the Standard Model breaks down at extreme energies. We know it's incomplete. If you put extreme energies into the Standard Model, shit goes south.
We also know it's fundamentally incompatible with General Relativity. It seems irresponsible to be saying these things in his position either way; I mean he can't help being quote mined, but he should rephrase to dimish the effects of it. He should know that stupid people heed his every word on these matters and can't distinguish between his opinion on yet unfounded hypotheses and facts.
This brings me to my most important point: What the fuck is this article? 'Steven Hawking says the universe is doomed' is pretty much the headline, but the article clarifies that this nothing new and a Fermilab theorist is even cited saying that the chance of this happening is ALMOST PRECISELY ZERO (do you guys even realize what "in 10^100 years" fucking means when the universe is only 10^9 years old?!) which I'm pretty sure Hawking knows himself? What is this other than click-bait at the cost of making science look retarded?
 

Something Amyss

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SNCommand said:
Steve Hawking has the occasional strange opinion, I'll chalk this up to be one of them, it sounds a bit arrogant to think we will be the ones to end the universe when the size of it is unfathomable for the human mind
Actually, Hawking has been quotemined by the source here. Hawking says it could happen, but the chances are slim and we don't really have the means to do it on Earth.

Me55enger said:
Anyone else get the feeling sometimes that Stephen Hawking just makes this stuff up?
I've known he was making it up since he cleverly hid a Rickroll in his book about black holes.