For decades, scientists have been looking for proof of how the universe came to be. It looks like they found it, thanks in part, to Fresno State.
Fresno State physics professor Dr. Yongsheng Gao and several post-doctorate students are celebrating, along with physicist Peter Higgs.
He's the man who theorized the existence of the Higgs-Boson particle, almost 50 years ago, to explain why atoms, and everything else, have weight... To put it plainly, how the universe works.
Joe Incandela, CERN Spokesperson: "This is not like other ordinary particles. It really is... We're reaching into the fabric of the universe at a level we've never done before. It's a key to the structure of the universe."
Dr. Gao and his students have been participating in the research since 2007.
And today was the big announcement at the European Center for Nuclear Research, or CERN, home of the world's largest atom smasher.
Scientists said they discovered a new particle that is consistent with that long-sought after Higgs-Boson.
Peter Higgs, Physicist: "For me, it's a really incredible thing that it's happened in my lifetime."
The atom smasher is located in Switzerland.
It accelerates protons to the speed of light, and forces high energy collisions that cause particles to reproduce.
Fresno State had a major role in the research, and in developing systems to share information from experiments with other participating universities.
Dr. Yongsheng Gao, Asst. Prof., Fresno State Dept. of Physics: "It's the discovery of a new particle and is consistent with the Higgs particle."
The Higgs Boson is sometimes referred to as the "god particle" because it gives mass to all other particles in the universe.
Higgs: "The study of it will lead on to what lies beyond the standard model of physics, which we hope will have a more interesting connection with cosmology, the dark matter problem, and that sort of thing."
Over 3,000 physicists from universities around the world participated in the research.
Among those, along with Fresno State, are Harvard, Yale, and MIT.
Fresno State's participation was made possible by a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation's Particle Physics Program.
Since 2007, Fresno State has received over $1.5 million in research grants.
TXT 24
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