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Geneva. At the 40th ICHEP conference, the ATLAS and CMS experiments announced new results which show that the Higgs boson decays into two muons. The muon is a heavier copy of the electron, one of the elementary particles that constitute the matter content of the Universe. While electrons are classified as a first-generation particle, muons belong to the second generation. The physics process of the Higgs boson decaying into muons is a rare phenomenon as only about one Higgs boson in 5000 decays into muons. These new results have pivotal importance for fundamental physics because they indicate for the first time that the Higgs boson interacts with second-generation elementary particles.

Physicists at CERN have been studying the Higgs boson since its discovery in 2012 in order to probe the properties of this very special particle. The Higgs boson, produced from proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, disintegrates – referred to as decay – almost instantaneously into other particles. One of the main methods of studying the Higgs boson’s properties is by analysing how it decays into the various fundamental particles and the rate of disintegration.

CMS achieved evidence of this decay with 3 sigma, which means that the chance of seeing the Higgs boson decaying into a muon pair from statistical fluctuation is less than one in 700. ATLAS’s two-sigma result means the chances are one in 40. The combination of both results would increase the significance well above 3 sigma and provides strong evidence for the Higgs boson decay to two muons.

Occupy mars.

What are some skywatching highlights in August 2020? 🔭

You can see the Moon posing with various planets throughout the month, and catch the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Find out when and where to look up: https://youtu.be/fuuUbYjN9Oo

Saturn will be at opposition, and visible to night sky gazers throughout August where they will be able to marvel at its rings.

Extrasolar planetary systems may harbor multiple habitable planets, says new study.

A timelapse of Curiosity Rover hi-res selfies from 2012 to 2020. You can notice how the machinery is getting older over the years. We combined these selfies with the sound of the Mars Atmosphere taken by NASA Insight lander. Enjoy this mesmerizing experience.

Did you know NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover and the first NASA Mars helicopter were both named by students?

After sorting through more than 28,000 submissions, the names were chosen by a panel of judges. Perseverance and Ingenuity represent qualities that humans need to explore space.

Meet the students behind their names: https://youtu.be/jJG14ZtoNh4 #CountdownToMars

The team controlling NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover has received telemetry (detailed spacecraft data) down from the spacecraft and has also been able to send commands up to the spacecraft, according to Matt Wallace, the mission’s deputy project manager. The team, based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, has confirmed that the spacecraft is healthy and on its way to Mars.

Wallace provided a more detailed update on two issues during launch operations:

First, the proximity of the spacecraft to Earth immediately after launch was saturating the ground station receivers of NASA’s Deep Space Network. This is a known issue that we have encountered on other planetary missions, including during the launch of NASA’s Curiosity rover in 2011. The Perseverance team worked through prepared mitigation strategies that included detuning the receivers and pointing the antennas slightly off-target from the spacecraft to bring the signal within an acceptable range. We are now in lock on telemetry after taking these actions.

Mathematicians typically appreciate either generic or exceptional beauty in their work, but one type is more useful in describing the universe.