“We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature. The discovery of a particle consistent with the Higgs boson opens the way to more detailed studies, requiring larger statistics, which will pin down the new particle’s properties, and is likely to shed light on other mysteries of our universe.”

—

CERN director general Rolf Heuer • Saying that his group has discovered the “God particle,” also known as Higgs boson, in a speech on Wednesday. The boson, conjured and named for theoretical physicist Peter Higgs 50 years ago, was found while Higgs himself was still alive — which is a feat amazing in and of itself. “It is an incredible thing that it has happened in my lifetime,” Higgs said.