Spiders Alive!

I got a preview today of Spiders Alive!, the new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC  . . .

(Coming Soon)

Giant Tree Lobsters Uncovered

Balls Pyramid 19km from Lord Howe island in the Tasman Sea

A small colony of Lord Howe Island Stick Insects escaped decimation from 20c British trading ships who crashed on the South Pacific Island that these incredible 'Tree Lobsters' inhabited.  The ships brought with them back rats who devoured almost all but a small colony who survived in isolation and obscurity around one small bush on a nearby island.


Recently uncovered by a couple of Australian scientists, the following is an excerpt from NPR’s Robert Krulwich’s account of the discovery in Six Legged Giant Finds Secret Hideaway, Hides for 80 Years:

"On their way down, on a precarious, unstable rock surface, they saw a single melaleuca bush peeping out of a crack and, underneath, what looked like fresh droppings of some large insect …The only thing to do was to go back up after dark, with flashlights and cameras, to see if the pooper would be out taking a nighttime walk. Nick Carlile and a local ranger, Dean Hiscox, agreed to make the climb. And with flashlights, they scaled the wall till they reached the plant, and there, spread out on the bushy surface, were two enormous, shiny, black-looking bodies. And below those two, slithering into the muck, were more, and more … 24 in all. All gathered near this one plant . . ."


Read MORE and view the INCREDIBLE video of this enormous alienesque creature emerging from its inconceivably small egg:
Six Legged Giant Finds Secret Hideaway, Hides for 80 Years

Will the Real G-d Particle Please Stand Up

Higgs boson sub atomic particle

Readers don't despair! Any discussion of the G-d Particle is a little over the heads of even some physicists, and the discussion of imposter particles does not make understanding easier. It's added to the infinite complexity of this exciting discovery with variables only a science geek like myself would love! 

An article from PC world's section GeekTech, explores last week's discovery of the Higgs boson, and suggests  that all is not yet a done deal! In fact, they report that some scientists argue that the discovery could be the result of an "imposter particle."

In the article Higgs Boson Imposters? It's Possible, Say Scientists., author James Mulroy ultimately agrees it is likely that the celebrated particle is indeed the long sought after Higgs boson, but he shares some of the complex controversy.  Mulroy explains:

"In the Standard Model, the Higgs particle is a singlet. However, in the case of the potential impostor particles, a Higgs doublet is a Higgs particle that can have a spin with allowed values of either -1/2 or 1/2. And a Higgs triplet can have three values with a total spin value of 1. Singlets, doublets, and triplets all derive from an algebraic structure called special unitary groups. Findings of anything but the Higgs singlet could either prove the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model--an extension to the Standard Model--or an alternative model altogether."

I am still working on understanding of the models described. However, I hope that the jubilation of last week is not eroded by those spurned individuals demanding their share of attention with frustrated denials, but that we will build on last week's exciting, matter rattling discovery with positive excitement, collaborative  engagement and forgive the pun, energy, and continue to move forward, unraveling the remaining infinite (hopefully less one) mysteries of the universe.  


READ MORE: 
Higgs Boson Imposters? It's Possible, Say Scientists.

Higgs Boson Rings in the 4th of July

Inside the Large Hadron Collider's tunnels. Credit: CERN

Called the God-damned particle for years by Physicist Peter Higgs because of its elusiveness, and come to be known as the "G-d Particle," the Higgs boson has been at the center of a 45-year investigation by scientists worldwide as the explanation of how matter attains its mass.

Results of the experiments that has finally  identified the particle were announced on the U.S. Fourth of July at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva Switzerland, which houses the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

Built by CERN from 1998 to 2008, the LHC, for those remaining few of you who are out of the loop, is the world's largest and highest energy particle accelerator.  The LHC has provided an opportunity for physicists to test the predictions of different theories of particle physics including the existence of the Higgs boson particle, only a prediction until today.

The LHC is expected to continue to explore and uncover some of the most fundamental questions still outstanding in physics including advancing the understanding of the deepest laws of nature. The LHC was constructed in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and engineers from over 100 countries, as well as hundreds of universities and laboratories worldwide.

The confirmation of the discovery was met with loud applause and cheering. Prof Higgs, after whom the particle is named, wiped a tear from his eye as the teams finished their presentations in the Cern auditorium. 

"I would like to add my congratulations to everyone involved in this achievement," he added later. "It's really an incredible thing that it's happened in my lifetime."

A particle collision in the LHC

Prof Stephen Hawking added his opinion on a topic often whispered in private:

"This is an important result and should earn Peter Higgs the Nobel Prize," he told BBC News.




READ MORE:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-18702455