Hasta La Gadget!

The discovery of the Higgs Boson is perhaps science’s biggest recent success—but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to understand. Who better to explain just what it is, though, than Peter Higgs himself?

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You hear about the Higgs-Boson all the time, but do you know what it is? If the answer is no, fear not: It’s complex and confusing. Luckily, the New York Times has a beautiful, animated explainer to break it down for you in layman’s terms. [New York Times]

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Primed goes in-depth on the technobabble you hear on Engadget every day — we dig deep into each topic’s history and how it benefits our lives. You can follow the series here. Looking to suggest a piece of technology for us to break down? Drop us a line at primed *at* engadget *dawt* com.

Long before the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) could smash its first atoms, researchers manning the Tevatron collider at Fermilab, in a quiet suburb 40 miles west of Chicago, raced to find evidence that the Higgs boson exists. After roughly three decades of service, the Tevatron shut down for good in late 2011, dealing the city of Batavia’s largest employer a significant blow. Less than 18 months later, the LHC (the Tevatron’s technological successor) also went offline – albeit temporarily. Only four years after recording its first proton collisions, the team at CERN is already scrambling to upgrade the staggering LHC, which lies under parts of no less than five cities in both France and Switzerland. With the world’s largest particle colliders smashing a whole lot of nothing together for the next two years at least, the field of high-energy physics research is starting to look resource-starved. Of course, many might ask why exactly we need giant atom smashers like this, or even how they work. It turns out that first part is quite a bit easier to answer than the second.

During the last several decades, particle accelerators have revealed the existence of elementary particles such as quarks, led to the discovery of antimatter and generally helped us unlock the mysteries of the universe. And once they were done splitting atoms and probing the darkest corners of theoretical physics, accelerators often led to breakthroughs in medical imaging and cancer research. So, as massive colliders seem ready to land on the endangered species list, it seems as good a time as any to explain what a particle collider is, how it works and what we as a society have to gain from the research.

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While you might think you need to be a physicist with a particle accelerator to experience the elusive Higgs Boson particle, you’re right. But if you’d like to pay tribute to the recent accomplishments of the CMS and ATLAS teams at the Large Hadron Collider, then grab this watch.

The ultimate in geeky timepieces, the Higgs Boson watch displays a spiraling display which is supposed to represent the so-called “God Particle,” without which, not a single atom would hold together in the universe, and we wouldn’t exist. While I’m not sure how accurate the design is, it can definitely tell time.

Best of all, this thing will cost you way less than building your own backyard particle accelerator. It’s just $39.95(USD) over at Gadgets & Gear. Nobel Prize sold separately.

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