Stephen Hawking loses $100 bet over Higgs 'God Particle'

The discovery of the a Higgs-like particle may be a major gain for the science community, but it may have cost famed scientist Stephen Hawking some pocket money.

 

Hawking admitted in an interview with the British Broadcasting Co. that the discovery, which was announced this week, had cost him $100.

 

"It seems I have just lost $100," he said with a gesture approximating a grin, after explaining he made a bet on the matter.

 

Earlier in the interview, Hawking said the finding was an important result and should earn Professor Peter Higgs - after whom the particle is named - the Nobel Prize.

 

"But it is a pity in a way because the great advances in physics have come from experiments that gave results we didn't expect," he added.

 

Earlier this week, scientists reporting from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) claimed the discovery of a new particle consistent with the Higgs boson.

 

But more work will still be needed to make sure this is indeed the particle that has been at the center of a 45-year hunt to explain how matter attains its mass.

 

The BBC said a confirmation that this is the Higgs boson may be one of the biggest scientific discoveries of the century. — TJD, GMA News