From left: Former European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) Director-Generals Christopher Llewelyn-Smith, CERN scientific director Lyn Evans, Herwig Schopper, Luciano Maiani and Robert Aymard react on July 4, 2012 during a seminar on the latest update in the 50-year bid to explain a riddle of fundamental matter in the search for a particle called the Higgs boson at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Meyrin, near Geneva. Physicists on July 4 said they had found a new sub-atomic particle consistent with the Higgs boson which is believed to confer mass. AFP PHOTO / POOL / DENIS BALIBOUSE (Photo by DENIS BALIBOUSE / POOL / AFP)
From left: Former European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) Director-Generals Christopher Llewelyn-Smith, CERN scientific director Lyn Evans, Herwig Schopper, Luciano Maiani and Robert Aymard react on July 4, 2012 during a seminar on the latest update in the 50-year bid to explain a riddle of fundamental matter in the search for a particle called the Higgs boson at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Meyrin, near Geneva. Physicists on July 4 said they had found a new sub-atomic particle consistent with the Higgs boson which is believed to confer mass. AFP PHOTO / POOL / DENIS BALIBOUSE (Photo by DENIS BALIBOUSE / POOL / AFP)
From left: Former European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) Director-Generals Christopher Llewelyn-Smith, CERN scientific director Lyn Evans, Herwig Schopper, Luciano Maiani and Robert Aymard react on July 4, 2012 during a seminar on the latest update in the 50-year bid to explain a riddle of fundamental matter in the search for a particle called the Higgs boson at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Meyrin, near Geneva. Physicists on July 4 said they had found a new sub-atomic particle consistent with the Higgs boson which is believed to confer mass. AFP PHOTO / POOL / DENIS BALIBOUSE (Photo by DENIS BALIBOUSE / POOL / AFP)
From left: Former European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) Director-Generals Christopher Llewelyn-Smith, CERN scientific director Lyn Evans, Herwig Schopper, Luciano Maiani and Robert Aymard

10 years after Higgs boson, Cern's scientists shift from 'how' to 'why?'


Tim Stickings
  • English
  • Arabic

The Higgs boson lives for less than a billionth of a trillionth of a second, but evaded detection for almost half a century before its discovery was announced 10 years ago on Monday in a breakthrough toasted by today’s scientists as ushering in “a revolution” in our knowledge of the universe.

The tiny particle that explains how things get their mass was detected in the bowels of the underground Cern laboratory in Switzerland, where the Large Hadron Collider sends bits of atoms whacking into each other at 99.9999991 per cent of the speed of light.

A decade on, the LHC will power up again on Tuesday after a three-year break for maintenance, as the world’s top physicists look to build on the Higgs discovery by tackling unsolved mysteries about dark matter and the fate of the universe.

“The world of theoretical particle physics has changed a lot more in these last 10 years than it did in the previous 30 years,” said Gian Giudice, the head of theoretical physics at Cern, at a briefing to mark the anniversary.

“Ten years ago, we opened this new chapter and have understood a lot of the hows,” he said, but “our goal is to understand the whys, not simply the how”.

Why was the Higgs so important? The proof that particles acquire their mass by churning through an invisible field, like winter shoes gathering snow, was a moment of excitement for physicists working on the theory.

But its more romantic allure lay in the solution to a 48-year riddle. Peter Higgs, a British scientist, had theorised the field in 1964, but a piece of the puzzle was missing — a particle, or boson, that ought to be there if the Higgs field existed.

For decades, the Higgs boson remained tantalisingly out of reach, and like a search for a mythical animal, there was no way of proving that its footprints were not an illusion until the creature had actually been sighted.

A forerunner of the LHC, the Large Electron-Positron Collider, made an assault on the Higgs in 2000 but was not quite powerful enough to bludgeon it into existence.

'Immense joy'

The LHC started up in 2008, sending particles whizzing around a 27-kilometre pipe about 100 metres below the Earth’s surface, but a magnet failure after only 10 days pushed things back by another year while repairs were made.

Once back on track, the collider started to generate possible Higgs bosons but they appeared at a rate of about one in every billion collisions, meaning it took years to collect enough data to prove anything.

Even then, it lasts for such a small amount of time before decaying — nought-point- (21 zeroes)-one seconds — that scientists have to look for the particles it morphs into, such as photons, to be able to retrace its steps.

But on July 4, 2012, a critical line was crossed when enough data had been gathered that the possibility of a mistake — that the results indicating the Higgs boson were a fluke of subatomic dice-rolling — could safely be discounted.

That made scientists confident enough to announce to the world that they had identified a Higgs-like particle, to thunderous applause from colleagues on what Cern director-general Fabiola Gianotti recalled as “a day of immense joy”.

“If you look at the predictions, all the studies that we did before July 2012, we were not really expecting to see it so quickly,” she said.

Jonathan Butterworth, who works on another of Cern's experiments, said he had never really believed the Higgs would turn up because it seemed a “huge stretch” from obscure mathematical ideas.

Cern's Large Hadron Collider sends particles smashing into each other at almost the speed of light. Getty Images
Cern's Large Hadron Collider sends particles smashing into each other at almost the speed of light. Getty Images

“To see it actually emerge in the data was stunning, really exciting, he said. “It was also quite hard to believe that the hugely complex accelerator and detector systems would function so amazingly well — eventually.”

The breakthrough won a Nobel Prize for Peter Higgs and fellow physicist Francois Englert, and opened up a whole new field for scientists to explore.

Ms Gianotti sees the boson as a “tool for discovery” as much as a treasure in its own right, a way of studying both the smallest and most vast phenomenons of nature.

“The Higgs boson is related to some of the most profound open questions in fundamental physics, related for instance to the structure, to the fate of the universe,” she said.

“It’s a very precise microscope to study nature at the smallest scales and distances, and at the same time is a formidable telescope to access physics at very high energy scales.”

Her dream is that the next phase of Cern’s operations will hand her scientists a piece of dark matter, which makes up about 25 per cent of the universe and does not seem to interact with light.

Mr Giudice said a lecture on dark matter today would be unrecognisable compared to one 10 years ago because of advances in the past decade — “Indeed, it was a revolution”, he said of the Higgs discovery.

Scientists want to upgrade the LHC with artificial intelligence to help crunch the massive amount of data produced by the collider, which even Cern’s computers can handle only a fraction of.

Chris Parkes, who works on one of the four mega-experiments under way at Cern, said scientists in Switzerland were making discoveries on a weekly basis and had published more than 3,000 papers since 2012.

Cern said the boundaries that were pushed during the search for the Higgs boson have led to spin-off advances in cancer treatment and aerospace, like how the Moon missions gave us space blankets and modern food packaging.

On top of that, it says, one never knows how an important discovery like electricity will end up changing the world many years or centuries later.

But what excites Mr Giudice most as the LHC spins back into life is not making headline new discoveries but gaining understanding about the fundamental laws of the universe.

“If you had met [Charles] Darwin coming back from his trip from the Galapagos, would you have asked him how many new birds you have seen?” he said.

“It’s the same for the LHC. We are making this exploration not to count the number of birds that exist in the Galapagos, but we are really trying to understand something fundamental, not about biological evolution but even more about the evolution of our universe.”

Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction

Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.

Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.

Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.

Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.

Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.

What are the guidelines?

Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.

Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.

Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.

Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.

Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.

Source: American Paediatric Association
Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
RESULTS

6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 1 (PA) $55,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Rajeh, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Musabah Al Muhairi (trainer)

6.35pm: Oud Metha Stakes – Rated Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Get Back Goldie, William Buick, Doug O’Neill

7.10pm: Jumeirah Classic – Listed (TB) $150,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner: Sovereign Prince, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby

7.45pm: Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Hypothetical, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer

8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 2 (TB) $350,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Hot Rod Charlie, William Buick, Doug O’Neill

8.55pm: Al Bastakiya Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Withering, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass

9.30pm: Balanchine – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner: Creative Flair, William Buick, Charlie Appleby

Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica

Best Agent: Jorge Mendes

Best Club : Liverpool   

 Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)  

 Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker

 Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo

 Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP

 Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart

Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)

Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)

Best Women's Player:  Lucy Bronze

Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi

 Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)

 Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)

 Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs

Australia World Cup squad

Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

ILT20%20UAE%20stars
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ELEADING%20RUN%20SCORERS%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E1%20Nicholas%20Pooran%2C%20261%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E2%20Muhammad%20Waseem%20(UAE)%2C%20248%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E3%20Chris%20Lynn%2C%20244%3Cbr%3E4%20Johnson%20Charles%2C%20232%3Cbr%3E5%20Kusal%20Perera%2C%20230%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBEST%20BOWLING%20AVERAGE%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E(minimum%2010%20overs%20bowled)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E1%20Zuhaib%20Zubair%20(UAE)%2C%209%20wickets%20at%2012.44%3Cbr%3E2%20Mohammed%20Rohid%20(UAE)%2C%207%20at%2013.00%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E3%20Fazalhaq%20Farooqi%2C%2017%20at%2013.05%3Cbr%3E4%20Waqar%20Salamkheil%2C%2010%20at%2014.08%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E5%20Aayan%20Khan%20(UAE)%2C%204%20at%2015.50%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E6%20Wanindu%20Hasaranga%2C%2012%20at%2016.25%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E7%20Mohammed%20Jawadullah%20(UAE)%2C%2010%20at%2017.00%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten

Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a  month before Reaching the Last Mile.

Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

 

F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

Tips to stay safe during hot weather
  • Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
  • Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
  • Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
  • Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
  • Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
  • Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
  • Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20SCE%20Studio%20Cambridge%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sony%20Computer%20Entertainment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PlayStation%2C%20PlayStation%204%20and%205%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Law%2041.9.4%20of%20men%E2%80%99s%20T20I%20playing%20conditions
%3Cp%3EThe%20fielding%20side%20shall%20be%20ready%20to%20start%20each%20over%20within%2060%20seconds%20of%20the%20previous%20over%20being%20completed.%0D%3Cbr%3EAn%20electronic%20clock%20will%20be%20displayed%20at%20the%20ground%20that%20counts%20down%20seconds%20from%2060%20to%20zero.%0D%3Cbr%3EThe%20clock%20is%20not%20required%20or%2C%20if%20already%20started%2C%20can%20be%20cancelled%20if%3A%0D%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%09A%20new%20batter%20comes%20to%20the%20wicket%20between%20overs.%0D%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%09An%20official%20drinks%20interval%20has%20been%20called.%0D%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%09The%20umpires%20have%20approved%20the%20on%20field%20treatment%20of%20an%20injury%20to%20a%20batter%20or%20fielder.%0D%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%09The%20time%20lost%20is%20for%20any%20circumstances%20beyond%20the%20control%20of%20the%20fielding%20side.%0D%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%09The%20third%20umpire%20starts%20the%20clock%20either%20when%20the%20ball%20has%20become%20dead%20at%20the%20end%20of%20the%20previous%20over%2C%20or%20a%20review%20has%20been%20completed.%0D%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%09The%20team%20gets%20two%20warnings%20if%20they%20are%20not%20ready%20to%20start%20overs%20after%20the%20clock%20reaches%20zero.%0D%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%09On%20the%20third%20and%20any%20subsequent%20occasion%20in%20an%20innings%2C%20the%20bowler%E2%80%99s%20end%20umpire%20awards%20five%20runs.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE CLOWN OF GAZA

Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

Tips to stay safe during hot weather
  • Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
  • Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
  • Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
  • Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
  • Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
  • Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
  • Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
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Jebel Ali Dragons 26 Bahrain 23

Dragons
Tries: Hayes, Richards, Cooper
Cons: Love
Pens: Love 3

Bahrain
Tries: Kenny, Crombie, Tantoh
Cons: Phillips
Pens: Phillips 2

Updated: July 04, 2022, 10:10 AM`