that's the higgs boson particle. they are using the large hadron collider at european organization for nuclear research or cern. the circular tunnel runs 27 kilometers long. physicists smash protons together at near lit speed of light. then, they check to see whether the process produced new particles. >> the first important result is that we have been able to restrict the most likely mass region which is clearly an important achievement by the end of 2012, sooner if we're lucky. we should be able to certify our work. >> some physicists believe the higgs boson particle is what gave mass to matter. researchers around the world have been looking for this last missing particle in their theory. they hope to conclude whether the particle exists by next year and unravel a mystery of modern physics. >>> and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us.

the theory that the smallest particles travel through a field, and they get slowed. this is how higgs boson works. you cannot see it, but it begins matter. >> every particle in your body at every moment is interacting with this field. it is almost cosmic that permeates the universe, and that is what gives particle's mass and what ultimately gives you and me structure. >> coming from two different channels. one is the higgs boson. >> here in london, the students watch the events unfold. >> people have been waiting literally their entire lives for this. yes, a special moment. >> i guess to remember that we are here and to be part of the group that had such a big part of this. >> this machine is so large, they gave me a bike to go around. there are vital clues about how the universe got started. bbc news. >> tantalizing new discoveries there in switzerland. for more on today's announcement and its significance, i am joined by a science writer who wrote about the scientific search for the cosmic start of the universe. thank you so much for joining me. i understand this is potentially a huge dis

they think they have found evidence of the mysterious particle known as the higgs boson. it is thought to be the original building blocks of the universe. david reports. >> in an underground laboratory, the largest experiment is honing in on one of the greatest mysteries of the universe. firing a particle through a tunnel, and getting closer to understanding the basic building blocks of matter by causing collisions to reveal what is inside. this afternoon, a long awaited announcement -- >> we are here today to announce the results. >> some of the brightest minds gathered in one room, comparing findings from different experiments that point to the existence of an important article, hidden until now. >> we need many more next year in order to get a definite answer on the question. to be, or not to be, we saw some hints today. >> to support -- explore how the universe works, they have gone deeper into atoms. first with the nucleus. that has been known about for a century. then inside the nucleus there are protons and neutrons. the journey goes on. inside them, are another min

calling it the higgs boson particle. what keeps all of those other at thom oms together?her? the collider cern goes around 17 miles and they send these protons flying into space and they sent a bunch of them going this way, streams of these and eventually at one point they collide. this collision is what the big part is, what's the big thing. when you send the particles in and they collide with each other here, a bunch of things fly out. the flying out part is what we're seeing. can we find what is actually holding the protons together. holding this stream of mass together. holding you and me together. holding the world. kind of like gravity. holding us to the surface of the earth and when you drop an egg it hits the floor. we know gravity is there but we can't see it. we can prove it is there. we can prove that an apple falls from a tree and hits a guy on top of a head and all of a sudden you have gravity but can we really prove it? you can't see what's holding these atoms together either but they think as if they got these collisions going they thought they saw pieces -

they think they have found evidence at last of the mysterious particle known as the higgs boson. it is thought to be the original building block of the universe. our science correspondent reports. >> in an underground laboratory near geneva the world's largest experiment is honing in on one of the greatest mysteries of the universe. firing particle through a circular tunnel, scientists are closer to understanding the basic building blocks of matter by causing collisions that reveal what is inside. and this afternoon, a long awaited announcement. >> we are here today to hear the latest results from the search for the higgs boson. >> some of the brightest minds gathered in one room comparing findings from two experiments that both point to the existence of a fundamentally important particle hidden until now. >> we still need many more collisions next year in order to get a definite answer on the shakespeare questioned to be or not to be. we saw some tantalizing hints today. >> to explore how the universe works, scientists have delved deeper into atoms. first, there is the nucleus w

particle" in physics may have taken a new turn. two research teams at the cern laboratory in switzerland announced today they're closing in on the so-called "higgs boson." the sub-atomic particle has long been thought to be a building block of the universe, but its existence has never been proven. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to jeff. >> brown: and we turn to the congressional investigation into a collapsed financial securities firm and its high-profile leader. judy woodruff has the story. >> woodruff: former mf global ceo john corzine was back at the u.s. capitol today for the second time in two weeks. this time facing a committee of former senate colleagues. their question was a simple one. >> where is the money? i mean, how do you answer that? where is the money from funds that were supposed to be kept separate, customer money? >> woodruff: that money, $1.2 billion worth, vanished when mf-global filed for federal bankruptcy protection in october. but corzine insisted again he does not know where the funds went. >> to trace missing funds, it will be necessary to analyze and reconcile multiple hundreds of pages of daily transa

prevailing near i have correct, the evidence would be found in a never-seen subaatomic particle called the higgs boson announced that they haven't found it but they are what they called tantalizingly close, finding hints that it does exist. they're going to need a few more months. it will be a few more years before astronauts fly again in american spacecraft, but when they do, the vehicles will be developed by private companies, not by nasa. john blackstone reports we got our first look today at a new kind of ship that doesn't need a launch pad. >> the wingspan of this plane is greater than the length of a football field. just think about that for a second. >> reporter: paul allen, the billionaire cofounder of microsoft, has the a plan to build the world's biggest airplane and use it to launch rockets into earth's orbit. the twin fuselage craft will be powered by six boeing 747 engines and have a wingspan of 385 feet-- nearly double of that of a 747. it will carry a rocket to. 30,000 feet and then blast off-- an easier way to get into space than climbing there the thick atmosphere close to the earth's

they is not actually found it the particle which is referred to as higgs boson only exists in theoryut wharfies cysts -- what physicists use to explain why everything around us have mass. one team has not been able to find it they have narrowed it down, and they have narrowed it down to a cabinet in the kitchen, in the science laboratory. they are searching they thing it is in there. >> i think it is a teeny tiny lego. >> anyone see horton hears a who. >> it all could be -- we could be -- everything we know could be a snow globe in some superior universe chef >> right they have said one theory is if we were created by a divine presence there is god we were created by god he was like this didn't work and then we just all go up like an experiment didn't go right. >>> i would thing we would have been gone by now. >> maybe next year with the mayan calendar. >> i don't believe that. i truly do not understand the god particle thing. >> it is very come my kateed i would -- complicated i would go into it but it would take an hour. >> i wish i had that knowledge. >> after this show. >>> maybe

one kind of particle is believed to gain mass and become a matter. it is known as the higgs boson.t disintegrates quickly, and no one has ever seen it. its existence has never been proven, but scientists say they have now come closer to finding evidence of it. >> the probability is already as high as 99%. we are almost sure but not completely. we cannot be definite. the higgs is headed in massive quantities of data, and it is difficult to find signs of it. >> physicists at cern nuclear research center have been on the particles travel for years. in a 27 kilometer long underground circular tunnel, they have been accelerating particles and allowing them to collide with each other to recreate the conditions of the big bang. and their experiments are proving fruitful. >> that we're close to finding it is a definite triumph of the work we have done over the past 20 years. if we find something new and can measure its parameters, it could prompt a revolution. we will see. >> scientists say the particles existence could be confirmed by as early as next year. >> just how strong is vladimir

higgs boson. >> yes, we believe i have a physicist coming in later on to talk about it. >> the god particle. >> yeah, that is what they refer to it as i have been doing my prep work for that interview, can i say that so far, i don't understand one word of the material. >> your head is probably about ready to employee up. >> yeah. >> i guess we are -- blow up. >>> yeah i guess we are not meant to understand our origin. >> again, we always wonder why the sky is blue tony explained that for us yesterday >> anything with god in it will probably be a little lofty. >> well, we will see what we can do. i can do this for you let's look at some maps temperatures across the country not just here but across the country. here in dc 31 degrees, we've cooled off a little bit. buffalo new york 27 degrees, wilmington, 41 degrees in ohio, cincinnati, 29 degrees, check it out these are not the coldest temperatures we have seen on this map. 43 little rock, 56 new orleans. denver, they are chilling off what are they doing? cooling down. >> thank you. >>> 18 degrees. i am the one doing the physics interview. 18 deg