Share

cover art for Higgs boson turns ten: the mysteries physicists are still trying to solve

Nature Podcast

Higgs boson turns ten: the mysteries physicists are still trying to solve

00:46 Happy birthday, Higgs boson - looking back at a momentous milestone for physics

Ten years ago this week, scientists announced that they’d found evidence of the existence of the Higgs boson, a fundamental particle first theorised to exist nearly sixty years earlier.


To celebrate this anniversary, we reminisce about what the discovery meant at the time, and what questions are left to be answered about this mysterious particle.


Nature News: Happy birthday, Higgs boson! What we do and don’t know about the particle

Nature Editorial: Particle physics isn’t going to die — even if the LHC finds no new particles


11:09 Research Highlights

Clever clothes that can cool or warm the wearer, and finding hidden DNA from the endangered red wolf.


Research Highlight: ‘Smart’ clothing flexes to provide relief from the heat

Research Highlight: ‘Ghost’ DNA from the world’s rarest wolves lingers in coyotes


13:27 Supporting scientists who stutter

Stuttering is a speech condition that affects around 70 million people worldwide, which can make things like speaking in public, or even one-on-one incredibly daunting. We hear the experiences of one researcher of stuttering, who also has a stutter, as they explain the best way to offer support to others.


Careers Feature: The conference challenges faced by scientists who stutter


22:10 Briefing Chat

We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, we discuss how having similar smells could spark a friendship, and how viruses can alter our odour to make humans more attractive to mosquitos.


New Scientist: You're more likely to become friends with someone who smells like you

Nature News: How some viruses make people smell extra-tasty to mosquitoes


Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.

More episodes

View all episodes

  • Briefing Chat: 'External lungs' keep man alive for 48 hours until transplant

    11:03|
    In this episode:00:42 External, artificial-lung system keeps patient alive for transplantNature: 48 hours without lungs: artificial organ kept man alive until transplant06:22 How lung cancer in mice hijacks neurons to outwit the immune systemNature: How tumours trick the brain into shutting down cancer-fighting cellsSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
  • These mysterious ridges could help skin regenerate

    22:05|
    00:46 Understanding how rete ridges form in the skinNature: Thompson et al.09:32 Research HighlightsNature: Genetically engineered ‘stinkweed’ comes up roses for making seed oilNature: Largest galaxy survey yet confirms that the Universe is not clumpy enough11:52 The open-source AI that performs scientific literature reviewsNature: Asai et al.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
  • Briefing Chat: What Brazilian centenarians could reveal about the science of ageing

    10:21|
    In this episode:00:36 Study probes genetics of extreme longevityNature: Still working at 107: supercentenarian study probes genetics of extreme longevity05:32 Controlling fluorescent proteins’ brightness with magnetsNature: ‘Remote controlled’ proteins illuminate living cellsSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
  • How your brain chemistry rewards hard work

    24:02|
    00:46 Why completing difficult tasks feels rewardingNature: Touponse et al.11:34 Research HighlightsNature: Disappearing ‘planet’ reveals a solar system’s turbulent timesNature: Getting to the (square) root of stock-market swings13:43 How extreme weather events could threaten malaria elimination effortsNature: Symons et al.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
  • Audio long read: ‘I rarely get outside’ — scientists ditch fieldwork in the age of AI

    18:29|
    This is an audio version of our Feature: ‘I rarely get outside’: scientists ditch fieldwork in the age of AI
  • Briefing Chat: The canny cow that can use tools, and how babies share their microbiomes

    12:03|
    In this episode:00:24 How babies share their gut microbesNature: Sending babies to nursery completely reshapes their microbiome05:25 First evidence of tool use in cattleScience: No bull: This Austrian cow has learned to use toolsSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
  • The biggest 'Schrödinger's cat' yet — physicists put 7,000 atoms in superposition

    26:32|
    00:46 Protein-sized superposition surpasses previous experimentsNature: Pedalino et al.News: Schrödinger's cat just got bigger: quantum physicists create largest ever 'superposition'11:46 Research HighlightsNature: Ancient pottery reveals early evidence of mathematical thinkingNature: Gifted dogs learn new words by overhearing humans14:11 How Trump’s second term has impacted researchNature: US science after a year of TrumpNature: US science in 2026: five themes that will dominate Trump’s second year
  • Briefing Chat: Can NASA return rocks from Mars? And why dogs have long ears

    10:04|
    In this episode:00:40 The rock samples destined to remain on MarsNature: NASA won’t bring Mars samples back to Earth: this is the science that will be lost05:24 The genetics of dogs’ droopy earsNature: Do their ears hang low? The genetics of dogs’ adorable floppy earsSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
  • AI can turbocharge scientists' careers — but limit their scope

    21:38|
    In this episode:00:47 AI can boost research productivity — at what cost?Research article: Hao et al.10:10 Research HighlightsNature: Ancient ‘snowball’ Earth had frigidly briny seasNature: Putting immune cells into ‘night mode’ reduces heart-attack damage12:41 JWST images are full of red dots, what are they?Nature: Rusakov et al.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.