Higgs is too light, Gazprom and poppies

There's a bit of a buzz in the scientific community about the Higgs particle. Apparently the particle discovered last year, but first theorised upon by Peter Higgs and François Englert, is not weighing enough! This is big news because everyone thought that the Higgs particle would be the answer to the big issue where mass actually comes from. And now the thing weighs not enough. You can imagine how brain cells are mulling over possible answers. Some believe there is not much to it and that calculations are not final yet. Others believe the explanation is very simple: there are not 3 neutrinos but 4. The missing mass of the Higgs particle would be equal to the mass of a 4th neutrino. Problem: in the accepted theory only 3 neutrinos exist: electron,, muon and tau. As all of this is so far only theoretical (until calculations give solid evidence one way or another), there are some other indications for the existence of a 4th neutrino. The 4th neutrino has been the subject of various workshops over the past years and now another potential proof may bring us closer to a reworked theory. What is mind boggling is that universities from Leiden and Harvard have found indications for the existence of this neutrino in the x-rays of galaxies. How they can find indications of something that may not exit, but if it does exist is about 10 ^-33 cm² "big", and comes from galaxies that are 73,6 Mpc (73,6 Mega parsec = 240 million light years) away from us, is beyond me. Isn't science fascinating?


I guess we all follow who is saying what about the Ukraine/Krim situation. And I guess we all wonder from time to time why politicians make the statements they make. In order to guide you a bit, and without taking any position, see below graph (courtesy of Gazprom and Morgan Stanley) that may help you along your way through the political forest.

Hundred years ago WWI started and this year is full of commemoration of those dreadful days. Everyday life in West Flanders is still influenced by what happened between 1914 and 1918. Just this week a farmer ploughing his field dug up a big pile of bombs and ammunition, many of whom containing chemicals. That is no exceptional event. Bombs are dug up almost on a daily basis in West Flanders. There is a special section of the Belgian army that drives around the area to collect what has surfaced.

So with all this unrest in Libya, Syria, Egypt, Thailand, Venezuela, Ukraine, Central African Republic and many more places, I thought it was appropriate to post the poem written by John McRae in May 1915.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If you break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders Fields