Higgs rumours fly as meeting approaches
The latest rumour is that both ATLAS and CMS have evidence that the Higgs mass is about 125 GeV/C2 at confidence levels of 3.5σ and 2.5σ respectively. At 3.5σ, the measurement could be the result of a random fluke just 0.1% of the time whereas at 2.5σ the fluke factor is about 1%. [full article]

Fundamental constants are not constant—or maybe they are, we don’t really know
Now, there is a precedent here. The cosmic microwave background was initially thought to be isotropic—it’s the same where ever you look. However, accurate measurements show that there is a slight difference and the Universe seems to have some sort of global orientation. This might also imply that the fundamental constants could be different depending on which direction we look. [full article]

Smallest habitable world around sun-like star found
The planet, named Kepler-22b, lies 600 light years away around a star of the same type (called G) as the sun. It is about 2.4 times as wide as Earth and orbits its star every 290 days, right in the middle of its star’s habitable zone, where liquid water can exist on an object’s surface. [full article]

In the tradition of Glove, Actually and You just don’t get it do you?, here’s the impressively compiled collection of movie ‘sit down and shut ups’.