Cousin of Higgs Boson observed in Superconductors

By Damian Bemben

A relative of the Higgs Boson, one that inspired the long hunt for the Higgs Boson in the first place, has been observed properly for the first time.

The Higgs Boson itself was first proposed to exist in the 1960s, and only appeared in the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva in 2012, 50 years later. Peter Higgs and François Englert theorised the existence of the particle, and received the Nobel Physics prize for their hard work and dedication in 2013.

However their ideas were actually inspired by how photons (Particles of Light) behave in superconductors. Metals, when dropped to an extremely low temperature (around -234 Degrees Celsius), allow electrons to move around them with little to no resistance. This produces a lot of extremely cool effects, for example the Meissner effect, which allows a magnet to levitate above a superconducting surface.

However, when the metal reaches around zero degrees kelvin (Absolute Zero, which is the lowest temperature that can possibly be reached) , vibrations are made in the superconducting metal, which in turn slow down photons, making light act as if it has a mass.

This effect is linked very closely to the Higgs Boson, and Ryo Shimano at the University of Tokio who led the team making the new discovery has said that they are the Mathematical equivalent of Higgs particles.

In order to find this new effect, Shimano and his team shook the superconductor with a beam of light, which is a similar method to how particle physicists created the actual Higgs Boson in the Hadron Collider in the first place.

This could prove to be an amazing discovery in physics as by comparing the similarities between the Hadron Collider and the absolute zero superconductor could prove to be very useful in studying the actual Higgs Boson. This is because "One can really do the experiments in a table-top manner, which would definitely reveal new physics and hopefully provide some useful feedbacks to particle physics." Shimano has said.

Blue Whales Bouncing Back

By Damian Bemben

A new study shows that the population of blue whales in California are starting to yet again reach a sustainable level.

Blue whales are big. They weigh on average 190 tonnes, to put that into perspective you would need to stack up at least 3 large tanks on a giant scale in order to compare with the size of a blue whale, and even then you would need to add another 10 tonnes onto it.

Their large size could explain why at least 11 blue whales are struck every single year by ships along the U.S. West Coast.

Doesn’t seem like much does it? But only 3 whales on average die every year through natural threats, which is another reason why this is such a huge success story.

The study itself has shown that along the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean, there are now about 2,200 Blue Whales, this is decades after the hunting the whales was banned by the IWC (The International Whaling Commission).

This might seem as a very small number, however before the ban took place, around 3,400 California blue whales were killed between 1905 and 1971. “It’s a conversation success story” said Cole Monnahan, one of the publishers of this study.

It’s not all good news however, as although the California Blue Whales have managed to recover, they are the only known population of blue whales that have managed to get back to a sustainable population after the global whaling ban.

“California blue whales are recovering because we took actions to stop catches and start monitoring. If we hadn’t, the population might have been pushed to near extinction” explained Monnahan.

The conservation of blue whales off the California coast could prove to set an example for other countries, showing that it is very possible to help get a population of animals back to sustainable standards.

Although blue whales are still threatened, this shows the gigantic effect that people can have on animal populations, for better or worse.

Paralympians return from Sochi

This year, Britain had one of their most successful years at the Winter Paralympics since Innsbruck in 1984.The GB team won six medals - one gold, three silvers and two bronzes - which made the team finish 10^th in the medal table.

Photo: Charlotte Evans, Kelly Gallagher,
 Jade Etherington and Caroline Powell

This was the first ever gold medal won by the GB paralympians, thanks to Kelly Gallagher and her guide Charlotte Evans in the super G.

Jade Etherington and her guide Caroline Powell took bronze in the same competition and won a whopping total of three silver medals in the visually impaired downhill, slalom and super combined. GB's wheelchair curling team, Aileen Neilson, Gregor Ewan, Jim Gault, Bob McPherson, and Angie Malone, took a bronze medal.

British skier Jade Etherington, who won three silvers and a bronze along with her guide Caroline Powell, has been classed as being the greatest British Winter Paralympian of all-time; because of this Etherington had the honour of carrying the British flag at the closing ceremony. Unfortunately, Etherington missed her final race of the competition, Sunday's giant slalom, because of illness but recovered for the closing ceremony.

The closing ceremony celebrated the achievements of the 547 athletes from 45 countries who competed for the 72 medals.

International Paralympic Committee president, Sir Philip Craven, exclaimed that the Games were the best ever Winter Paralympics. "Proud Paralympians - your inspirational athletic performances have redefined the boundaries of possibility," he told the crowd. "You have shown the world that absolutely anything is possible and that life is about amazing capabilities and not perceived deficiencies."

Britain hopes to exceed even further in future Paralympics and the UK has set up funding to help create future winter Paralympic stars.

The Paralympic flag was lowered and presented to Pyeonchang in South Korea, hosts of the 2018 Winter Games.

Virginia Mitreva,

year 8