The First Particle Physics Evidence of Physics Beyond the Standard Model? 97
StartsWithABang writes It's the holy grail of modern particle physics: discovering the first smoking-gun, direct evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model. Sure, there are unanswered questions and unsolved puzzles, ranging from dark matter to the hierarchy problem to the strong-CP problem, but there's no experimental result clubbing us over the head that can't be explained with standard particle physics. That is, the physics of the Standard Model in the framework of quantum field theory. Or is there? Take a look at the evidence from the muon's magnetic moment, and see what might be the future of physics.
Re:Mixed feelings (Score:2, Insightful)
Honestly, I really love the Starts With a Bang blog, and have been reading it for years.
But I do have to wonder why every single post is announced on /. these days.
We already have RSS, we subscribe, we know about it. By the time /. has caught up I've already read it, usually 24 hours ago.
Is /. getting a paid for these posts? Inquiring minds want to know.
Can you tell me how other news aggregation sites work otherwise? Common Sense would like to know.
The internet is quite large. Huge in fact. And Slashdot with it's News for Nerds moniker, has a pretty damn big job of dumping info under that umbrella.
It was a bit easier back in the day when you could fit the computer book section of any bookstore into a bathroom stall. Today, it has its own wing.
Re:Annoying header graphics (Score:5, Insightful)
I certainly hate this post.
Headline ending with a question mark? Check.
Big image that insists on occupying the whole screen! Check.
Self-promoting claim of being the first, when there was evidence of something not being quite right with the Standard Model as early as the 90s? (I'm no physicist, but I read it on Slashdot)
And finally, there is no new data. They are setting up an experiment, which will not bear fruit for years.
StartsWithABang clickbaiting again? (Score:4, Insightful)
It's the holy grail of modern pseudo-scientists: getting an angreement with a former major geek site, allowed to directly post articles. Sure, there are unanswered questions in it, ranging from dark matter to the hierarchy problem to the strong-CP problem, but still they swallow the clickbait until they find another method to squeeze the last remaining bit of income from this community. Or is there? Take a look at the evidence from user StartsWithABang, and see what might be the future of Slashdot.
Re:Goddammit! (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm going to guess that's because the muon has a lifetime of 2.2 microseconds, whereas the tau has a lifetime so short I can't even type the number, making the muon far easier to study.