Two European scientists won the Nobel Prize in Physics for describing the Higgs boson, a theoretical particle that may explain where mass comes from and advances man’s understanding of how the world is constructed.
Peter Higgs, 84, a retired professor of theoretical physics at the University of Edinburgh, and Francois Englert, 80, a retired professor at the Free University of Brussels, will share the 8 million-krona ($1.25 million) prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said today in Stockholm.
The particle is the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle in the Standard Model, a theory explaining how the universe is built, and its existence would help scientists gain a better understanding of how galaxies hold together.
“Some people have compared it to the discovery of DNA,” said Rolf-Dieter Heuer, the director-general at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN. “It’s not so wrong. It’s one of the building blocks of our existence. It ranks pretty high in the discoveries of the past century.”
The boson is named after Higgs, one of six scientists who devised a working theory of how elemental particles achieve mass in a three-month period in 1964. Englert had been the first to publish the theory a month earlier, along with Robert Brout, a Belgian colleague who died two years ago and wasn’t eligible for Nobel recognition because it is limited to living recipients.
“I’m very, very happy to have the recognition of this extraordinary reward,” Englert said, speaking by phone to a press conference held at the science academy.

 
Higgs Hiding
Higgs didn’t return calls for comment, though he posted a statement on his university’s website.
“I am overwhelmed to receive this award,” he wrote. “I hope this recognition of fundamental science will help raise awareness of the value of blue-sky research.”
A native of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Higgs is remaining “deliberately out of touch today,” according to Richard Ball, the scientist who succeeded him at the Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics in Edinburgh. “He’s a modest man. He’s quite shy.”
The Nobel committee wasn’t able to reach him either.
“We’ll try to call him again later today,” said Olga Botner, a professor of experimental elementary particle physics at Uppsala University in Sweden and a member of the Nobel committee. “The rumor is that he’s gone into hiding because he knows that if he gets it there will be a press storm.”

 
Quarks and Leptons
Particle physics is the study of the elemental building blocks that make up matter. These particles, with names such as quark, fermion, lepton and boson, can’t be subdivided. They exist and interact within several unseen fields that permeate the universe.
Scientists are trying to prove the existence of the Higgs field by displaying a physical effect for the Higgs boson, a particle that lives for less than a trillionth of a second and is an excitation, or force, within the Higgs field.
Researchers at CERN said last year they had observed a particle that may be the boson. New results from the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva based on analysis of more data and presented at a conference in Italy this year “strongly indicate” that the particle discovered is indeed a Higgs boson, CERN said in March.

 
It’s Everywhere
“The particle itself is not as important as the theory — the theory tells us why we exist — it tells us why we don’t float away like a photon,” according to Botner. “The Higgs field is something that pervades the universe, it’s here in the room, it’s out there in black space, it’s everywhere.”
Higgs, speaking in July last year in the Old College at the University of Edinburgh, where he worked from 1960 until his retirement in 1996, said he didn’t expect the theoretical particle to be found in his lifetime.
“It’s very nice to be right sometimes,” he said then. Stephen Hawking, a British theoretical physicist who thought the boson wouldn’t be found, has said Higgs should get a Nobel.
At CERN, based near Geneva, “people just erupted in applause and shouts” when the names of the prize winners were announced, said Joe Incandela, a spokesman for the CMS experiment, one of the two that identified the Higgs boson. “As experimentalists we don’t go into this expecting a Nobel prize. For us the prize is the discovery.”
Englert, born in Etterbeek, Belgium, said he doesn’t yet know what he will do with the money. At a press conference at Free University, he expressed regret that Brout, his “close collaborator and friend,” wasn’t there to share the prize.

 
‘Lively Discussion’
The Nobel announcement was postponed by an hour, suggesting the committee took longer than expected to agree on a prize winner. The academy declined to give a reason for the delay.
“An academy should be a forum for lively discussion,” said Per Carlson, a former chairman of the Nobel committee and a professor of physics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm who was in the room. “I cannot go into the details.”
Last year’s physics prize went to Serge Haroche, from France’s Ecole Normale Superieure, and David J. Wineland, of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado. They shared the award for the discovery of new ways to manipulate quantum particles without changing their nature.
Annual prizes for achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, peace and literature were established in the will of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who died in 1896. The Nobel Foundation was established in 1900 and the prizes were first handed out the following year. The first physics Nobel was awarded to Wilhelm Roentgen for his discovery of X-rays.

By Andrea Gerlin

Source: Bloomberg

The celebrated entrepreneur on staying in touch and keeping it real when you’re the boss.

After an entrepreneur has expanded his successful new company or a chief executive has been promoted to the corner office, he may find himself starting to lose touch with employees and customers.

This happens for a variety of reasons. Most executives, for example, will tend to minimize bad news in front of the CEO and emphasize only positive developments in the company. But this forces the CEO to read between the lines, and may leave employees unable to get action on an issue — all because of the fear that admitting a problem might embarrass a manager or supervisor. Instead, they learn not to ask, but work around the problem while, understandably, griping about management.

So if you find yourself losing touch, take time to find out what the staff is actually doing on a day-to-day basis. Spend at least a few hours observing operations, and if you are qualified, borrow a desk, grab a phone and lend a hand.

As you observe and work, ask yourself: What are the employees’ working conditions? Do people seem energetic and creative? And ask employees: Do you have the resources you need to do your job well? If you could, what problems would you fix? What ideas of yours has your manager followed up on?

Throughout most organizations, all supervisors need to periodically dig in and get their hands dirty. At the executive level, accessibility is key. You must ensure your staff is consistently encouraged to contact you with ideas and problems. The larger the business, the more important this is.

If you are losing touch with employees, it’s also likely that you need to work on maintaining your connection to customers. Most executives and managers tackle this second challenge partly through surveys and other tools that evaluate the customer experience, while some — myself included! — have embraced social media, keeping clients updated through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other channels.

This column, which I have been writing for just over a year, is a new channel for me. To my surprise, I have found that not only has my advice and experience been reaching aspiring entrepreneurs, but also that I, in turn, have been getting a different perspective on our operations around the world. The hundreds of e-mails I receive every week bring up a lot of questions, some new ideas and a few telling customer comments — some good, some bad.

One example, sent to me over the recent holidays, highlighted how valuable it is to get direct feedback from customers. On Dec. 18, a Virgin Atlantic flight from Kenya to London was diverted because of the heavy snow at Heathrow. The flight was forced to land in France where, thanks to strict European immigration laws, many of our Kenyan passengers were barred from leaving the airport and had to sleep on camp beds.

The uncomfortable conditions and the unfriendly welcome distressed many of our passengers. I received a number of angry e-mails from readers of this column in Kenya who were either passengers on that flight or who had heard about the ordeal. I wrote an apology that was published in The Nation in Kenya, promising we would take up the matter with the French authorities and ensure it did not happen again. The positive e-mails that followed let me know that what had threatened to become an ugly incident had been addressed by my direct intervention.

The incident underlined for me the idea that however and wherever you can, find ways to keep in touch with your employees and customers. Embrace every opportunity — you never know what you will learn!

Just remember you are not always going to hear pleasant news. But as I have mentioned before, the best managers try to catch people doing something right: Re-energize employees by showing them that change is possible and action is valued. At Virgin Active in South Africa, our health-club company, we’ve seen the value of quick follow-up via our WOW awards, which publish employees’ new ideas on the company intranet and in staff newsletters. The best ideas are celebrated at our awards ceremonies. When Virgin Active employees expressed a desire to gain experience at other branches, we set up a staff exchange program. Seven employees are now working in our European operations; and a related project has resulted in our developing an enhanced pack of information for new employees that has helped to engender greater loyalty right from the start.

NEWS

We all hope that children have good, strong role models who possess the kind of qualities that make our sons and daughters want to be (and become) better people. While there is some variation in every parent’s definition of what it means to be a good person, the following 7 characteristics of a positive role model remain constant.

(1) Model positive choice-making: Little eyes are watching and little ears are listening. When it comes to being a role model, you must be aware that the choices you make don’t only impact you but also the children who regard you as their superhero. Someday, they will be in the same predicament and think to themselves, “What did s/he do when s/he was in the same situation?” When you are a role model it’s not enough to tell your charges the best choices to make. You must put them into action yourself.

(2) Think out loud: When you have a tough choice to make, allow the children to see how you work through the problem, weight the pros and cons, and come to a decision. The process of making a good decision is a skill. A good role model will not only show a child which decision is best, but also how they to come to that conclusion. That way, the child will be able to follow that reasoning when they are in a similar situation.

(3) Apologize and admit mistakes: Nobody’s perfect. When you make a bad choice, let those who are watching and learning from you know that you made a mistake and how you plan to correct it. This will help them to understand that (a) everyone makes mistakes; (b) it’s not the end of the world; (c) you can make it right; and (d) you should take responsibility for it as soon as possible. By apologizing, admitting your mistake, and repairing the damage, you will be demonstrating an important yet often overlooked part of being a role model. (This point began some great conversation on parents and role models in the comments below and here.)

Top 73 annual world list of 2009 great role models

(4) Follow through: We all want children to stick with their commitments and follow through with their promises. However, as adults, we get busy, distracted, and sometimes, a bit lazy. To be a good role model, we must demonstrate stick-to-itiveness and self discipline. That means; (a) be on time; (b) finish what you started; (c) don’t quit; (d) keep your word; and (e) don’t back off when things get challenging. When role models follow through with their goals, it teaches children that it can be done and helps them adopt an “if s/he can do it, so can I” attitude.

(5) Show respect: You may be driven, successful, and smart but whether you choose to show respect or not speaks volumes about the type of attitude it takes to make it in life. We always tell children to “treat others the way we want to be treated” and yet, may not subscribe to that axiom ourselves. Do you step on others to get ahead? Do you take your spouse, friends, or colleagues for granted?Do you show gratitude or attitude when others help you? In this case, it’s often the little things you do that make the biggest difference in how children perceive how to succeed in business and relationships.

(6) Be well rounded: While we don’t want to spread ourselves too thin, it’s important to show children that we can be more than just one thing. Great role models aren’t just “parents” or “teachers.” They’re people who show curiosities and have varied interests. They’re great learners and challenge themselves to get out of their comfort zones. You may be a father who’s also a student of the martial arts, a great chef, a good sportsman, and a treasured friend. You may be a mother who’s a gifted dancer, a solid rock climber, a celebrated singer, and a curious photographer. When children see that their role models can be many things, they will learn that they don’t need to pigeon-hole themselves in order to be successful.

(7) Demonstrate confidence in who you are: Whatever you choose to do with your life, be proud of the person you’ve become and continue to become. It may have been a long road and you may have experienced bumps along the way, but it’s the responsibility of a role model to commemorate the lessons learned, the strength we’ve amassed, and the character they’ve developed. We can always get better, however, in order for children to celebrate who they are, their role models need to show that confidence doesn’t start “5 pounds from now,” “2 more wins on top of this one,” or “1 more possession than I have today.” We must continue to strive while being happy with how far we’ve come at the same time.

While it may seem like a great deal of pressure to be a positive role model; nobody is expecting you to be superhuman. We certainly wouldn’t expect that behavior from the children who are looking to us for answers and guidance—nor would we want them to expect that kind of flawless behavior from themselves or others. You can only do your best. And, if you mess up today, you can always refer back to tip #3 and try again tomorrow. Good role models earn multiple chances from the children who believe in them and know they can do anything if they simply put their mind to it.

For more information visit  one of the most intelligent non-profit foundation in the world.

NEWS

Nascono così i V.T.P. Awards, ovvero l’onorificenza dei Very Talented Person, scienziati, artisti, creativi, persone che vivono con passione valori positivi di conoscenza, cultura e spirito di sacrificio alla ricerca di nuove idee, soluzioni ed attività in grado di migliorare il benessere non solo economico ma spirituale, ecologico, sociale e culturale dell’umanità moderna. Considerata una delle organizzazioni con più potenziale al mondo, i VTP Awards rende onore, da voce, immagine e spazio a queste persone.

Il logo VTP rappresenta un pedone per evidenziare come, nella scacchiera della vita, si puo diventare chiunque indifferentemente quale sia il punto di partenza.

L’organizzazione ha creato una struttura di visibilità per celebrare la grandiosità delle loro azioni, pensieri ed idee e, soprattutto, avvicinarli ai giovani e alla collettività nel suo insieme, affinché si generino valori positivi di ispirazione, modelli da imitare e da condividere, tutti elementi positivi che contribuiscono alla crescita non solo tecnologica, economica del mondo ma ad un suo miglioramento in termini di qualità della vita e di convivenza civile.

E’ diventato necessario reagire alla diffusione di modelli negativi, superficiali e legati alla sola immagine estetica. Occorre riaffermare la dignità del Talento, ovvero di persone che dedicano la vita alla ricerca di opportunità di benessere e di bellezza a beneficio della collettività e non per il proprio arricchimento personale senza tener conto degli effetti positivi o negativi che le proprie azioni possono generare sul resto dell’umanità con cui interagisce.  Dalla nostra redazione, i VTP Awards hanno tutto il nostro appoggio.

C. Ragno

For more information visit  one of the most intelligent non-profit foundation in the world.

NEWS

“E’ meglio inseguire mille sogni o realizzarne uno solo?” recita il sottotitolo di “Samsara”, film mai assurto agli onori della cronaca ma molto nutriente per l’anima e i neuroni. Samsara, il mondo della relatività e del caos, il mondo in cui molti di noi, figli del terzo millennio, affogano inconsapevoli e disorientati. Molti… ma non tutti. Non i “V.T.P.”, ad esempio. Chi sono i VTP? Very Talented Person, individui dotati di qualità, inventiva e tenacia straordinarie. Uomini e donne infaticabili che, in ogni angolo del mondo e accomunati da una buona dose di principi etici, investono il proprio genio per realizzare un “solo sogno”: concepire o scoprire qualcosa che renda un servizio ai propri simili. Medicina, finanza, ecologia, imprenditoria o arti applicate? In qualunque settore operi il nostro VTP, le sue ipertrofiche anse cerebrali producono senza posa, nel nobile intento di salvaguardare il pianeta nonché la salute, la dignità e il diritto alla felicità di ogni uomo. Una razza nobile e determinata dunque, quella dei VTP, una progenie di menti sopraffine cui il mondo moderno deve molto. Almeno un riconoscimento internazionale come il “VTP Award”, ideato e promosso allo scopo di onorarne e divulgarne le conquiste, indipendentemente da sesso, età, razza, status sociale o nazionalità.

Marcello B.

For more information visit  Very Talented Person Official Website.

NEWS

Puede cambiar el mundo una palabra?

En este mundo que corre desenfrenadamente, debes estar familiarizado con las nuevas palabras o estas fuera de juego.

Cada adjetivo involucra un grupo de cualidades, acciones y comportamientos implícitos che caracterizan y delimitan cada sujeto. Crear un nuevo adjetivo es casi como crear un camino bien delineado o un mindset con características que delimitan esa nueva carretera de comportamiento.

Aca te presentamos una:

Cuando se habla, por ejemplo, de una persona honesta esta implícito que es una persona que actúa rectamente, respeta por la propiedad ajena, que sabe ser juez y parte al mismo tiempo,  etc;  de la misma manera desde hace algunos años Enrique Luis Sardi invento V.T.P. (Very Talented Person), un nuevo acrónimo y adjetivo para diferenciar a todas aquellos talentos llenos de cultura, luchadores, llenos de valores, estudiosos, honorables que están tomando grandes acciones por el mundo.

En el diferenciar a los V.T.P. del resto de la sociedad, se está automáticamente  honorando por meritocracia, estimulando la sociedad trabajadora, y de consecuencia, creando un mindset positivo en la sociedad de hoy, que tanto necesita de modelos llenos de valores y cultura.

Nosotros no sabemos a ciencia cierta si logrará cambiar el mundo, pero estamos seguros que el acrónimo VTP tiene todas las prerrogativas para hacerlo  con elegancia.

For more information visit  www.VeryTalentedPerson.org