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| Paralympic opening ceremony's Higgs boson celebration passes scientist by | Paralympic opening ceremony's Higgs boson celebration passes scientist by |
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| When the opening ceremony of the Paralympics celebrated perhaps the greatest scientific discovery of the modern era – the detection of the so-called "god particle" which helps make up the universe – it did so with dancers creating a sphere of silver umbrellas, circling the floor of the Olympic stadium in London. | When the opening ceremony of the Paralympics celebrated perhaps the greatest scientific discovery of the modern era – the detection of the so-called "god particle" which helps make up the universe – it did so with dancers creating a sphere of silver umbrellas, circling the floor of the Olympic stadium in London. |
| But for the man responsible for first describing that particle 48 years ago, Prof Peter Higgs, that moment passed him by. | But for the man responsible for first describing that particle 48 years ago, Prof Peter Higgs, that moment passed him by. |
| Immensely shy and diffident about his celebrity, Higgs admitted on Thursday he had not seen the opening ceremony, which had a theme of Enlightenment. | Immensely shy and diffident about his celebrity, Higgs admitted on Thursday he had not seen the opening ceremony, which had a theme of Enlightenment. |
| Higgs simply said: "Life is getting more eventful." He explained: "Yes, I was just hearing about this earlier, it's got into the Paralympics. I didn't watch that." | Higgs simply said: "Life is getting more eventful." He explained: "Yes, I was just hearing about this earlier, it's got into the Paralympics. I didn't watch that." |
| The Higgs boson was almost certainly detected for the first time earlier this year by scientists working at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, Switzerland. They announced their discovery – which is yet to be conclusively confirmed – on 4 July. | The Higgs boson was almost certainly detected for the first time earlier this year by scientists working at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, Switzerland. They announced their discovery – which is yet to be conclusively confirmed – on 4 July. |
| But for the man in charge of the LHC at the Cern laboratories, Prof Rolf Heuer, its star appearance at the Paralympics ceremony was a great accolade. Speaking before a public lecture on the Higgs boson and the LHC at Heriot-Watt University near Edinburgh on Thursday, Heuer said: "Seeing such a discovery makes it into the festivities like the opening of the Paralympics shows that science might get back more into society. | But for the man in charge of the LHC at the Cern laboratories, Prof Rolf Heuer, its star appearance at the Paralympics ceremony was a great accolade. Speaking before a public lecture on the Higgs boson and the LHC at Heriot-Watt University near Edinburgh on Thursday, Heuer said: "Seeing such a discovery makes it into the festivities like the opening of the Paralympics shows that science might get back more into society. |
| "I think it's very important to have this. Maybe it's a bit difficult sometimes to have your name always associated with it, and I can very well imagine how Peter feels, but for science in general it's important that it is acknowledged to be part of society again, that it's talked about, that it's even seen in caricature … as a cartoon … I find this a very positive development." | "I think it's very important to have this. Maybe it's a bit difficult sometimes to have your name always associated with it, and I can very well imagine how Peter feels, but for science in general it's important that it is acknowledged to be part of society again, that it's talked about, that it's even seen in caricature … as a cartoon … I find this a very positive development." |
| The event had another connection with Higgs: he has known Stephen Hawking, the theoretical physicist and cosmologist who narrated key moments in the event from his wheelchair, since 1966, when Higgs gave a lecture at Cambridge University. Hawking, even then using a wheelchair and living with the first stage of motor neuron disease, quizzed him from the audience. | The event had another connection with Higgs: he has known Stephen Hawking, the theoretical physicist and cosmologist who narrated key moments in the event from his wheelchair, since 1966, when Higgs gave a lecture at Cambridge University. Hawking, even then using a wheelchair and living with the first stage of motor neuron disease, quizzed him from the audience. |
| In his narration in the stadium, Hawking paid tribute to Higgs and Cern: "The Large Hadron Collider at Cern is the largest, most complex machine in the world, and possibly the universe … The recent discovery of what looks like the Higgs particle is a triumph of human endeavour and international collaboration. It will change our perception of the world." | In his narration in the stadium, Hawking paid tribute to Higgs and Cern: "The Large Hadron Collider at Cern is the largest, most complex machine in the world, and possibly the universe … The recent discovery of what looks like the Higgs particle is a triumph of human endeavour and international collaboration. It will change our perception of the world." |
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