Happy Fourth of July!

(Other countries have different Independence Days.)

In memoriam:  Andy Griffith, actor and singer.

A new subatomic particle that may be the Higgs boson has been discovered.

Dr. Heuer and others said that it was too soon to know for sure whether the new particle, which weighs in at 125 billion electron volts, one of the heaviest subatomic particles yet, fits the simplest description given by the Standard Model, the theory that has ruled physics for the last half century, or whether it is an imposter, a single particle or even the first of many particles yet to be discovered . The latter possibilities are particularly exciting to physicists since they could point the way to new deeper ideas, beyond the Standard Model, about the nature of reality. For now, some physicists are calling it a “Higgs-like” particle.

Daughters of the American Revolution in Queens.

And so off to enjoy the day.