LHC: Higgs boson 'may have been glimpsed'   BBC - December 13, 2011

The most coveted prize in particle physics - the Higgs Boson - may have been glimpsed, say researchers reporting at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva. The particle is purported to be the means by which everything in the Universe obtains its mass. Scientists say that two experiments at the LHC see hints of the Higgs at the same mass, fueling huge excitement. But the LHC does not yet have enough data to claim a discovery. Finding the Higgs would be one of the biggest scientific advances of the last 60 years. It is crucial for allowing us to make sense of the Universe, but has never been observed by experiments. This basic building block of the Universe is a significant missing component of the Standard Model - the "instruction booklet" that describes how particles and forces interact.

  Higgs vs. hype: a mini-guide   MSNBC - December 13, 2011
Physicists are revealing what they've found so far in their quest for the Higgs boson at Europe's Large Hadron Collider on Tuesday, and it's already being touted as a revolutionary revelation about a "God particle" that ranks right up there with Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Force. But the Higgs boson isn't a religious experience, and it won't help you destroy the Death Star. So what is the Higgs? And what do scientists know about it? Here's a small guide to the Large Hadron Collider's latest:

Reality as a Hologram, Illusion of Time, Quantum Mechanics, Multiverse