Large Hadron Collider finds new variant of particle
- The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), famously engaged in the quest for the Higgs boson, has turned up a heavier variant of a sub-atomic particle first discovered a quarter-century ago, scientists reported
- Like the elusive Higgs and the photon, it is a boson, meaning it is a particle that carries force.
- But while the Higgs is not believed to be made of smaller particles, the Chi-b(3) comprises two relatively heavy particles, the beauty quark and its anti-quark.
- Described by some as the world's largest machine, the LHC is located in a 27-km ring-shaped tunnel near Geneva that straddles the Franco-Swiss border up to 580 feet below ground.
- European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) said they had narrowed the search for the Higgs — the so-called “God particle” that may confer mass.
- The theory behind the Higgs is that mass does not derive from particles themselves. Instead, it comes from a boson that interacts strongly with some particles but less, if at all, with others.
- A massive collaborative effort that brings in physicists from around the world, the LHC has cost more than 6.03 billion Swiss francs.
Coins from Satavahana period unearthed
- This is the first time that these unique “potin” coins had been found
- These coins are surmised to belong to the 2nd century AD and reckoned to have been issued by the Satavahana rulers Satakarni and Pulmavi.
- One can decipher the names of the kings in Prakrit language, Brahmi script, with a representation of an elephant engraved on them.
- The reverse side has the symbol of Ujjaini.