This is the first elementary particle to be discovered since the tau neutrino in 2001.

FORBES: If I Want To Look Well-Read And In The Flow, What Do I Need To Know About The Higgs Boson Discovery And Announcement?

The Higgs is a fundamentally new type of elementary particle that we have never seen before.

FORBES: If I Want To Look Well-Read And In The Flow, What Do I Need To Know About The Higgs Boson Discovery And Announcement?

The top quark is the heaviest known elementary particle, so there was reason for some excitement.

FORBES: If I Want To Look Well-Read And In The Flow, What Do I Need To Know About The Higgs Boson Discovery And Announcement?

In these events, one elementary particle "decays", or transforms, into another with a smaller mass.

BBC: Higgs boson 'hints' also seen by US lab

One way to look beyond the Standard Model is to question the Higgs's status as an elementary particle.

ECONOMIST: The hunt for physics��s most elusive quarry is over

Neutrino astronomy is hard because neutrinos (a type of electrically neutral elementary particle) are rarely absorbed by matter.

ECONOMIST: This year, the Nobel authorities have shown a deft touch

"This is very exciting because if the spin-zero determination is confirmed, it would be the first elementary particle to have zero spin, " he said.

BBC: LHC cements Higgs boson identification

"We've never seen an elementary particle with spin zero, " said Tony Weidberg, a particle physicist at the University of Oxford who is also involved in the CERN experiments.

WSJ: New Data Boosts Case for Higgs Boson Find

This led to the discovery of the top quark, the heaviest elementary particle seen to date and the penultimate piece of the jigsaw puzzle known as the Standard Model that is the best description physicists have of the basic components of the universe.

ECONOMIST: The future of physics (1): So long, and thanks for all the quarks | The