<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5253f58f69bedd320922cfb0-1200-924/peter-higgs-4.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="Peter Higgs" width="480" />REUTERS/David Moir Professor <keyword id="724733" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Peter-Higgs">Peter Higgs</keyword> poses for a photograph following a news conference at the launch of The University of Edinburgh's new Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics.</div></div>Peter Higgs and Francois Englert <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/live-2013-physics-nobel-prize-2013-10" target="_blank">won the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday</a> "for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider." 
Winners are generally informed of their award through a morning call from Stockholm.
In a live phone interview on Tuesday, Englert said it is "not unpleasant" to have received the award. 
But Higgs was noticeably absent.
The Royal Academy of <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">Science</keyword> <a href="https://twitter.com/Nobelprize_org/status/387535717422755840" target="_blank">wasn't even able to reach the 84-year-old British physicist by phone</a>. 
<blockquote>
Peter Higgs was not reached by Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences yet, email sent. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NobelPrize&amp;src=hash">#NobelPrize</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Physics&amp;src=hash">#Physics</a>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>- Nobelprize_org (@Nobelprize_org) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nobelprize_org/statuses/387535717422755840">October 8, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>
This isn't a total shocker. As <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/08/science/as-nobel-prize-announcement-nears-physicists-await-the-call.html?smid=tw-nytimesscience&amp;seid=auto&amp;_r=0" target="_blank">The New York Times wrote on Monday</a>: "Dr. Higgs - the J. D. Salinger of physics - has already let it be known that he will not be available in any form on Tuesday."

The Nobel Committee Can't Seem To Locate Prize Winner Peter Higgs

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/52581eddecad04517257f2e6-1200-924/rtr34kdt.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="Peter Higgs" width="480" />REUTERS/Denis Balibouse<keyword id="724733" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Peter-Higgs">Peter Higgs</keyword> learned he had won the Novel Prize in <keyword id="55984" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="physics">Physics</keyword> from a stranger.</div></div>Peter Higgs had already made it clear that he would be off the grid when the <keyword id="52659" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="nobel-prize">Nobel Prize</keyword> in Physics was announced on Tuesday.
So when a former neighbor pulled up in her car as he was retiring from lunch that afternoon and asked if he had heard the news, <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24391-nobel-laureate-higgs-discovered-and-answers-questions.html#.UlgUihAiy3U?utm_source=NSNS&amp;utm_medium=SOC&amp;utm_campaign=twitter&amp;cmpid=SOC%7CNSNS%7C2012-GLOBAL-twitter" target="_blank">he responded</a>: "'Oh, what news?"
So she told him.
Higgs, 84, along with Francois Englert, 80, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/live-2013-physics-nobel-prize-2013-10">split a $1.2 million prize</a> for their theory on how particles obtain mass, which they separately proposed in 1964.
Their ideas were confirmed nearly 50 years later when scientists announced they had found a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-a-higgs-boson-2013-10">Higgs boson</a> - the subatomic particle that the theory predicted - in July 2012.
The Nobel Committee <a href="https://twitter.com/Nobelprize_org/status/387535717422755840">unsuccessfully tried to reach Higgs by phone</a> on the day of the announcement.
"Peter Higgs was not reached by Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences yet, email sent," a Twitter account associated with the committee <a href="https://twitter.com/Nobelprize_org/status/387535717422755840">said</a> shortly after the prize was awarded.
The retired professor, who does not own a cell phone, had been enjoying a meal of draft beer, soup, and sea trout in Edinburgh's port area when the announcement was made, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10372394/Peter-Higgs-was-told-about-Nobel-Prize-by-passing-motorist.html" target="_blank">according to the The Telegraph</a>.
"I conveniently got out of the way while the telephone messages mounted up," <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-11/higgs-returns-from-edinburgh-lunch-to-find-nobel-physics-prize.html" target="_blank">Higgs told Bloomberg</a>.

Peter Higgs Found Out About His Nobel Win In The Most Unusual Way 

British physicist Peter Higgs along with Belgian physicist Francois Englert <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/live-2013-physics-nobel-prize-2013-10" target="_blank">won the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics</a> on Tuesday for the theory of how particles acquire mass, proposed nearly fifty years ago. 
In this theory, a particle obtains mass through interactions with the Higgs particle. 
This idea was confirmed in July 2012 by the discovery of a Higgs particle at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC smashes together beams of protons at nearly the speed of light. 
In a video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQu-UT99LmU#t=39" target="_blank">posted by Science Museum</a>, Higgs explains how the largest particle collider in the world works. 
<iframe width="618" height="348" frameborder="0" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vQu-UT99LmU"></iframe>

Nobel Prize Winner Peter Higgs Explains How The Large Hadron Collider Works

<div class="KonaFilter image-container full"><div class="image on-image"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/525444dcecad042e74e390c9-1200-924/ap120704021118.jpg?maxX=800" border="0" alt="Higgs Boson" width="800" />AP Photo/CERNThis image shows four high energy electrons (green lines and red towers) created from a real proton-proton collision in 2011 at <keyword id="6624175" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Cern">CERN</keyword>. The event shows characteristics expected from the decay of a Higgs boson.</div></div>Early Tuesday morning, the Royal Swedish Academy of <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">Science</keyword> <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/live-2013-physics-nobel-prize-2013-10" target="_blank">awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Physics</a> to two theoretical physicists - Peter Higgs and François Englert - who each independently predicted the existence of the Higgs boson in 1964.
The Higgs boson is impossibly difficult to explain. But the fact of the matter is, if the Higgs boson did not exist, we would not be able to explain why fundamental particles, like electrons, have mass.
Without it, we could not exist. The universe could not exist.
Right now, we are all surrounded by something called the Higgs field. The Higgs field is always on. It is invisible to us, but within the field are little bosons that are popping up and vanishing all the time. Particles obtain their mass by plowing through the field.
"If the field wasn't around you, the electrons in your body would not have mass, and you would disintegrate," said Paul Padley, a physicist at Rice University who has been involved with experiments to discover the Higgs boson.
That's probably why the Higgs boson was nicknamed the "God particle," a term that the majority of physicists abhor, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-inventor-of-the-higgs-boson-hates-that-we-call-it-the-god-particle-2013-4" target="_blank">particularly Mr. Higgs</a> who is an atheist.
There have been lots of alternative explanations to the Higgs boson. Ideas have come and gone in the 50 years that it took to actually find the particle bearing the name of today's <keyword id="52659" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="nobel-prize">Nobel Prize</keyword> winner.
On July 4, 2012, physicists announced that they had discovered a Higgs boson using the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Padley is one of thousands of scientists who contributed to the discovery, but a limit of three people can win the Nobel prize, so it went to the first people to theorize the process of how particles obtain mass - finding the particle is proof that this process is real.
Below you can find a lightly edited transcript of our interview with Padley, who describes the science behind the elusive particle and the significance of its discovery.
Business Insider: Can we say for certain that scientists found a Higgs boson?
Paul Padley: Initially there was hesitation - we knew we had found something. But at this point CERN and the Nobel Prize committee have basically declared that this is a Higgs boson.
BI: You were involved in the discovery of the Higgs boson - as were thousands of other physicists on the experimental side. Do you believe it was fair to recognize just two recipients and why do you think this decision was made?
PP: They [Englert and Higgs] published the first papers on this Higgs mechanism. There are other people who contributed theoretically, but they were a bit later. The Nobel Prize committee is very strict that it just goes by order of publication. I don't know how they could ever award a Nobel Prize for the experimental work. The experiments are worthy of the Nobel Prize, but the current rules of the Nobel Prize committee are that they only give it to up to three individuals, and we're a lot more than three individuals.
BI: What is the biggest misconception about the Higgs particle?
PP: Everybody has trouble understanding exactly what it is. It's really hard to explain it because it's quite intricate mathematically. Fundamentally, <keyword id="55984" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="physics">physics</keyword> is a mathematical science. And when you try to explain it using English, or any language other than mathematics, you're going to come up short. In order to learn the mathematics behind the Higgs mechanism, you really have to go to graduate school in physics.
The underlying theoretical framework is something called relativistic quantum field theory. Take quantum mechanics, put special relativity on top of that, and then you have to apply that quantum mechanics and special relativity to the Higgs field. It's another level of abstraction mathematically from regular quantum mechanics. And that's actually the right framework to do things in.
BI: How did physicists know was properties they were looking for to confirm the existence of a Higgs particle?
PP: In the Large Hadron Collider, we take two protons and smash them together and scan through the debris looking to see what came flying out. When you create a Higgs particle, you don't measure it directly. It falls apart right away. We troll through the data looking for decay patterns that would correspond to something like a Higgs boson. For example, the theory predicts that the Higgs boson would decay to two photons some fraction of the time. So we look to see if we see these two photon decays, and we do see that.
BI: What role did you play in the discovery?
PP: I worked for a number of years on helping to construct and commission the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) experiment and participated in the analysis of the data. In particular, at Rice here we helped contribute some of the electronics that selects Muons - a type of fundamental particle that comes flying out of the detector. One of the ways in which the Higgs boson was discovered was by measuring it decay into two Z bosons. Those two Z bosons subsequently sometimes decay into muons. There was a large U.S. contribution - over a dozen universities and 100 people - that helped build the muon system.
BI: What's the practical benefit of this discovery?
PP: There's often a huge delay between when the theoretical idea is confirmed and when it turns into practical devices. We're at the forefront of knowledge. We're just trying to understand the basic laws of physics. Hopefully some day those will be put to good use. I think the immediate practical benefit is the technological advances that we have to make in order to do these experiments. These experiments are so technically challenging that sometimes we have to invent technology.

What Is A Higgs Boson? 

Peter Higgs, who invented the Higgs Boson, is an atheist and really doesn't like it that people call his particle "God."
The Telegraph noted an excerpt from <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9978226/Prof-Peter-Higgs-Atheist-scientist-admits-he-doesnt-believe-in-god-particle.html">an interview with Higgs</a>:
But Prof Higgs, explained his distaste for the term in a BBC Scotland interview. He said: "First of all, I'm an atheist.
"The second thing is I know that name was a kind of joke and not a very good one. I think he shouldn't have done that as it's so misleading."
The particle, or a version of it, was discovered last spring, and the finding has been <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/physicists-discover-higgs-boson-2013-3">confirmed by the scientists at CERN</a>. It helps explain what gives subatomic particles — and therefore the entire universe — its size and shape. It also supports certain theories about how the universe works and what happened during the Big Bang.
According to The Telegraph, Higgs doesn't believe the particle is the work of one almighty creator, so please, stop calling it the God Particle.

The Inventor Of The Higgs Boson Hates That We Call It 'The God Particle'

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/51436cd86bb3f77370000007-1329-997/higgs-boson-collision-cms-lhc-cern.jpg?maxX=400" border="0" alt="higgs boson collision CMS LHC CERN " width="400" /></div><a href="http://cds.cern.ch/record/1406073">CERN</a>Real CMS proton-proton collision events in which 4 high energy electrons (green lines and red towers) are observed. The event shows characteristics expected from the decay of a Higgs boson but is also consistent with background Standard Model <keyword id="55984" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="physics">physics</keyword> processes. </div>On Thursday, researchers at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/physicists-discover-higgs-boson-2013-3">CERN confirmed that they have discovered a "Higgs Boson"</a> — the long-sought "God particle."
"We make progress slowly in trying to define things, we need to be very sure of what things are," Andre David, who works at <keyword id="6624175" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Cern">CERN</keyword>, said in a Google+ hangout today. "There might be other Higgs bosons but this one smells, quacks and walks exactly like a Higgs boson should."
Finding this particle confirms a theory that we've built particle physics around — the standard model developed decades ago. But even though its discovery has cemented a large part of our thinking on particle physics, we still have a long way to go to understand the universe as we don't know it.
"Clear evidence that the new particle is the Standard Model Higgs boson still would not complete our understanding of the universe," Patty McBride, head of the CMS Center at Fermilab, <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130314103026.htm?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29">said in a statement</a>. "We still wouldn't understand why gravity is so weak and we would have the mysteries of dark matter to confront."
First, this is just one of multiple theorized Higgs particles. There are still others that could pop out of the data. The researchers also need to nail down the features of this Higgs. So far, everything they've seen about it matches up with the theorized properties from the standard model, but something surprising may come out of the data.
There are also other Higgs particles that have been theorized with other properties. Analysis of more data and smushing together more particles may yield data detailing these other, still missing Higgses.
"In coming years, it [the LHC] will study <a href="http://www.livescience.com/27900-physicists-applaud-higgs-announcement.html#"></a>many more of them, and that's what people will be focused on, hoping to see something unexpected," <a href="http://www.livescience.com/27900-physicists-applaud-higgs-announcement.html">Peter Woit, a physicist at Columbia University told LiveScience</a>. "No matter how hard one works at this though, one will only ever have partial information, never get to 100-percent sure that this particle is behaving exactly according to the theory."
Second, particle physicists still don't understand anti-matter. Tara Shears, who works at CERN, explained in a Google+ hangout today that when the universe was created, there were equal amounts of matter (which makes up the world around us) and anti-matter, which doesn't interact with our world. We think some of this antimatter still exists in our world, but much less than there use to be. This gradual decrease in the amount of antimatter can be explained by small inconsistencies in how matter and anti-matter act.
Figuring out what this tiny difference is between the two particles could shed light on huge swaths of particle physics. Currently the <keyword id="68480" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Large-Hadron-Collider">Large Hadron Collider</keyword> experiment is working to sort through their huge amount to data to figure it out.
Researchers are still really confused about dark matter and dark energy — what it is, where it comes from, and what it means for the future of our universe. "There's a lot we don’t understand. We don’t know what dark matter is made of. It might be a type of particle from a theory we haven't proven yet," Shears said.
The LHC shut down last much in preparation for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/large-hadron-collider-shuts-down-for-two-year-2013-2">two years of upgrades</a>. When it opens again in 2016, we will see it running at double its power, ready to rip into these theories.

Here Are The Next Huge Mysteries That Physicists Must Solve

<table class="image-container float_right" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/501a991d6bb3f72e52000004-400-300/higgs cern event.png" border="0" alt="Higgs proof" /></div><a href="http://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/1459500">CERN</a>There it is! </td></tr></table>GENEVA (AP) — The search is all but over for a subatomic particle that is a crucial building block of the universe.
Physicists announced Thursday they believe they have discovered the subatomic particle predicted nearly a half-century ago, which will go a long way toward explaining what gives electrons and all matter in the universe size and shape.
The elusive particle, called a Higgs boson, was predicted in 1964 to help fill in our understanding of the creation of the universe, which many theorize occurred in a massive explosion known as the Big Bang. The particle was named for Peter Higgs, one of the physicists who proposed its existence, but it later became popularly known as the "God particle."
The discovery would be a strong contender for the Nobel Prize. Last July, scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, announced finding a particle they described as Higgs-like, but they stopped short of saying conclusively that it was the same particle or was some version of it.
Scientists have now finished going through the entire set of data.
"The preliminary results with the full 2012 data set are magnificent and to me it is clear that we are dealing with a Higgs boson, though we still have a long way to go to know what kind of Higgs boson it is," said Joe Incandela, a physicist who heads one of the two main teams at CERN, each involving several thousand scientists.
Whether or not it is a Higgs boson is demonstrated by how it interacts with other particles and its quantum properties, CERN said in the statement. After checking, scientists said the data "strongly indicates that it is a Higgs boson."
The results were announced in a statement by the Geneva-based CERN and released at a <keyword id="55984" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="physics">physics</keyword> conference in the Italian Alps.
CERN's atom smasher, the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider that lies beneath the Swiss-French border, has been creating high-energy collisions of protons to investigate how the universe came to be the way it is.
The particle's existence helps confirm the theory that objects gain their size and shape when particles interact in an energy field with a key particle, the Higgs boson. The more they attract, so the theory goes, the bigger their mass will be.
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WE'VE FOUND THE GOD PARTICLE

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The FBI is helping investigate stolen items from the British Museum, per the BBC.</li><li>It's investigating if items from the museum were sold to US buyers, the report said.</li></ul>The FBI is investigating the potential sale of hundreds of items stolen from the British Museum to American buyers, including some sold on eBay, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3gqq7xy5xdo">the BBC reported</a>.The London museum is one of the biggest in the world. But since last year it has been the subject of unwanted worldwide attention after it said that over a thousand items from its collection, including jewelry, gems, and Greek pottery, had been stolen, were missing, or had been damaged.The BBC reported that the FBI is now investigating whether items from the museum were sold to buyers in the US.The FBI's efforts include contacting individuals who bought items on eBay, including a man in New Orleans who bought two gems on the platform, according to the BBC.The man told the BBC that the FBI had reached out to him for more information. He said he no longer had the items and told the BBC he didn't think the authorities had located them yet.The Telegraph reported last year that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stolen-museum-items-worth-63000-sold-ebay-50-2023-8">some items stolen from the museum were listed on eBay</a> at low prices. Items worth around $63,000 were listed for as little as $50, it said.In its report, the BBC said that the FBI had also likely assisted in recovering 268 items that were sold to a Washington DC collector on eBay, which the museum says belong to it.Items may also have been sold to people in other countries, the BBC reported.The British Museum declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider.The museum has accused one of its curators, Peter Higgs, of stealing and damaging artifacts.Higgs was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stolen-museum-items-worth-63000-sold-ebay-50-2023-8">fired last year after an internal investigation</a>, but has not been arrested or charged. He denies any involvement.Three buyers said that an eBay seller with the username "sultan1966" used the names "Paul Higgins" or "Paul" when they communicated via email.The buyer in New Orleans said he bought his items from sultan1966, which the BBC appeared to confirm by looking at records and receipts.An antiquities expert reported suspicion that a museum staff member was stealing from secure vaults back in 2013, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/17/stolen-british-museum-items-worth-50000-offered-ebay-40/">The Telegraph</a>, with missing items beginning to turn up on eBay three years later.Sources told the outlet that the museum had not properly cataloged all eight million items in its collection, which made it easier for the thefts to go undetected.

The FBI is looking at whether stolen items from the British Museum ended up in the hands of US eBay buyers: report

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Several jewelry items worth up to $63,000 were stolen from the British Museum in London.</li><li>Items later appeared on eBay, priced for as little as $50.</li></ul>A curator has been fired from the British Museum in London after stolen jewelry was found being sold cheaply on eBay, a report says.Some of the items were worth up to £50,000, or approximately $63,000, and were listed on eBay for as little as £40, or $50, according to British newspaper <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/17/stolen-british-museum-items-worth-50000-offered-ebay-40/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Telegraph</a>.An antiquities expert reported suspicion that a staff member was stealing from secure vaults at the museum in 2013, and the missing items began turning up on eBay three years later.Peter Higgs, 56, who held the position of curator of Mediterranean cultures at the museum for over three decades, was fired after an internal investigation.Higgs' 21-year-old son Greg maintained that his father is innocent."He's not done anything," Greg Higgs said, per <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/british-museum-missing-jewels-artefacts-vnx6sps9g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Times of London</a>. "He's not happy about it at all. He's lost his job and his reputation and I don't think it was fair." "He's devastated about it, because it's his life's work, basically. I've never known somebody who's so passionate about what he did."The museum said on Wednesday that several items of jewelry made of gold, semi-precious stones, and glass, dating from between 1,500 BC and the 19th century AD, were among those missing, The Telegraph reported. Other items had been damaged.One piece of ancient Roman jewelry made from onyx – that a dealer said was valued between £25,000 and £50,000, or $32,000 and $63,000 – was listed on eBay with a minimum price of £40, or around $50, in 2016. Nobody made a bid for the treasure, however, The Telegraph reported.The police are now investigating the thefts.The museum has not properly cataloged all eight million items in its collection, which makes it easier for thefts to go undetected, sources told The Telegraph."Major things do get cataloged. There are a lot of minor things which are not, or which are all lumped together," Professor Martin Henig, a Roman art expert at the University of Oxford, told the paper.An independent review is underway to establish what is missing, attempting to recover the missing items and preventing future thefts.A spokesman for the British Museum told the paper: "We have conducted a thorough investigation, identified the person we believe to be responsible, and that person has been dismissed. We are also taking further robust action to ensure this can never happen again.""The whole question of thefts at the museum is now subject to a criminal investigation, so we cannot comment further."

Jewelry worth up to $63,000 was stolen from one of the world's top museums and sold on eBay for as little as $50, report says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A suspected thief who plundered the British Museum for 20 years could be a kleptomaniac, says a report.</li><li>Exquisite jewelry and ancient coins are among the world-famous museum's missing treasures.</li></ul>A suspected thief who plundered valuable artifacts from the British Museum in London for 20 years could be a kleptomaniac, a police source told <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/suspected-thief-spent-at-least-20-years-plundering-british-museum-8pflw355n" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Times of London</a>.A museum curator was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stolen-museum-items-worth-63000-sold-ebay-50-2023-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently fired</a> after jewelry and other artifacts were discovered to be missing from the museum's vaults, and valuable items were found being sold cheaply on eBay.A stolen piece of ancient Roman jewelry made from onyx, worth up to £50,000, or approximately $63,000, was listed on the online auction site for as little as £40, or $50, according to British newspaper <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/17/stolen-british-museum-items-worth-50000-offered-ebay-40/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Telegraph</a>."The suspicion is that we are dealing with a possible case of kleptomania," the police source said.The source said there were fears that some objects had been defaced, such as being melted down or having their gems removed and sold online for a fraction of their value."Some of them would have been very, very valuable — tens of thousands of pounds — if it was known they were from the British Museum. But they couldn't be sold like that," the source told <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/more-than-1-500-treasures-missing-from-british-museum-hbd3hmzs7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Times.</a>Many of the missing objects, which include semi-precious gems and gold coins, were kept in the museum's basement galleries and were not on public display, the source said.A "lack of proper cataloging" made it possible to remove the items, the source said. The museum has admitted that many artifacts in its collections are not cataloged, per The Times.The British Museum was first alerted that several missing objects were being sold online years ago, The Times reported. The museum last week said they would take legal action against the fired employee and that police were investigating, per <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/british-museum-worker-sacked-over-missing-items-including-jewellery-lqxbqm2vn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Times.</a>The fired man, Peter Higgs, who worked as a curator at the museum for over 30 years, has denied wrongdoing.A former trustee at the museum said that it was a "puzzling" case as curators typically consider themselves custodians of the artifacts they work with and would not steal or deface them.They added it was a "fascinating thought" that kleptomania could have spurned the thefts."I can see that as a realistic possibility," they told The Times. "You do get curators that inevitably get obsessed [with the items in their departments]. I would certainly be prepared to put a mild bet on that because I can't see any other explanation."Over several decades, as many as 2,000 items from the museum are feared to have gone missing, been stolen, or become damaged, The Times reported.The British Museum said, per The Times: "We take the issue of any missing items incredibly seriously. Losses are recorded and reported to the trustees on an annual basis."British Museum director Hartwig Fischer said <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66621006" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he would step down</a> from his role over the scandal, admitting that the museum had not responded "as comprehensively as it should have" after first being alerted to the thefts in 2021.

A thief suspected of plundering treasures from the British Museum vaults for 20 years is a 'possible case of kleptomania,' police source says

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/51471da1eab8ea5e65000015-1104-1018/cms_higgs-event.jpg" border="0" alt="higgs boson"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CMS_Higgs-event.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></img></div></div></div>If you're talking to a physicist about the Higgs boson, whatever you do, do not call it by its media-hyped nickname the "God Particle."You're almost guaranteed to illicit a wince, a grimace, or in the very least a flash of mild annoyance.The phrase "God Particle" was plastered across the front pages of news outlets everywhere when the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cern-announcement-on-higgs-boson-2012-7" target="_parent">discovery of the particle</a> was announced in 2012. "God Particle discovered" is a much sexier headline than "Higgs boson discovered," but most <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-inventor-of-the-higgs-boson-hates-that-we-call-it-the-god-particle-2013-4" target="_parent">physicists hate the term</a>.It was not the intended nickname for the famous particle, according to a panel of physicists who discussed the Higgs boson on April 29 as part of the <a href="http://pioneerworks.org/events/sci-con/" target="_parent">Scientific Controversies lecture series</a>.The story goes that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman referred to the Higgs as the "Goddamn Particle." The nickname was meant to poke fun at how difficult it was to detect the particle. It took nearly half a century and a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tour-of-large-hadron-collider-lhc-particle-accelerator-2015-4" target="_parent">multi-billion dollar particle accelerator</a> to do it."The Goddamn Particle" was suppose to be the title of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0618711686/?tag=googhydr-20&amp;hvadid=28655779167&amp;hvpos=1t1&amp;hvexid=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=17976222936318925008&amp;hvpone=14.66&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=b&amp;hvdev=c&amp;ref=pd_sl_4fwmjjxg8a_b" target="_parent">Lederman's book</a> that came out in the 1990s and was wildly popular for a book about physics. However, his publishers weren't exactly on board with that phrasing, so the title was changed to "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-God-Particle-Universe-Question/dp/0618711686" target="_parent">The God Particle</a>."Unfortunately the publisher's version of the nickname stuck, and physicists are not happy about it."I am not particularly religious, but I find the term an 'in your face' affront to those who [are]," Vivek Sharma, a physicist at the University of California, San Diego, <a href="http://www.livescience.com/17489-god-particle-higgs-boson.html" target="_parent">told Live Science</a> back when the Higgs was discovered.In addition to the irrelevant tie to religion, the nickname doesn't do anything to help explain what the Higgs boson actually does. The particle is associated with the Higgs field that physicists think permeates all of space-time and helps give other particles their mass. You don't really get that from "God Particle." You do, however, get a hilarious joke about Catholic Mass and mass from the Higgs boson that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/neil-degrasse-tysons-best-science-joke-2015-3" target="_parent">Neil deGrasse Tyson told us</a> - which is about as close to religion as the particle gets.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/525444dcecad042e74e390c9-1200-924/ap120704021118.jpg" border="0" alt="Higgs Boson">AP Photo/CERN</img></div></div></div>Yes, the Higgs boson is a big deal and it's an integral part of the <a href="http://home.web.cern.ch/about/physics/standard-model" target="_parent">standard model of particle physics</a>. Comparing it to a god is going a bit overboard though. For starters, it's not really the Higgs boson itself that's granting mass to particles. The Higgs boson is an excitation of the Higgs field the helps other particles pass through it. And other types of energy interactions help create the mass that makes up you and me.Some physicists think there could be <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/there-may-be-two-higgs-boson-particles-2012-12" target="_parent">several different types</a> of Higgs bosons and this is just the first one we've detected.So maybe we should lowercase the "God" in "God Particle?" Or better yet just call it the "The Totally Secular Particle." Or just the "Masson," since it's a boson that helps give other particles get their mass. Other bosons have names that follow this kind of naming model. For example, light particles are also bosons and they're called "photons" - a combination of the words "boson" and "photo" (meaning light).Really most physicsts would tell you that the particle's actual name is perfect. It tells you that the particle is a boson and it honors Peter Higgs, the physicist who predicted its existence back in the 1960s.Still, we agree that the "Goddamn Particle" would've been way better than "God Particle." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chris-hadfield-first-blast-off-into-space-countdown-2015-5">An astronaut just blew our minds with the amazing story of his first time in space</a></h3> <div> <div> <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="FrMXd0dDpGhYMP4q2EooVjFSDNVSoph3" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> <script> if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; } RunFunctions.push(function() { var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'FrMXd0dDpGhYMP4q2EooVjFSDNVSoph3',{ autoplay: 'false' }); }); </script> <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div> </div> <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script> </div>

Here's what scientists really wanted to call the world's most famous particle

This morning Francois Englert and Peter Higgs <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/live-2013-physics-nobel-prize-2013-10#ixzz2h8A800hw">won the Nobel Prize in physics</a> on Tuesday for predicting a subatomic particle, known as the Higgs boson, that helps explain how particles acquire mass. 
Englert is from Belgium and Higgs is British, adding to each country's overall total. 
As you can see from this chart detailing the total number of <keyword id="52659" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="nobel-prize">Nobel prize</keyword> laureates awarded from 1901 to 2012, the U.S. has twice as many Nobel laureates as the next country (U.K.).
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5253f2b069bedde47822cfca-800-905/nobel.jpg" border="0" alt="nobel" />REUTERS</div></div></div>

Here's A Beautiful Visualization Of Nobel Prizes By Country Since 1901

Reddit user <a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/JalapenoJaques">JalapenoJaques</a> graduated high school in 2001. So he <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/266z8e/i_graduated_high_school_in_2001_scientifically/">started a thread</a> wondering how education has changed in the last 13 years.
The seven facts below present relatively new additions to common knowledge. Time to update some textbooks.
<h3><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/537e55eb69bedde772ea91b3-541-405/southern-ocean.png?maxX=800" border="0" alt="Southern Ocean" width="800" />Wikimedia CommonsThe newest ocean, the Southern</div></div>1. The world has five oceans now.</h3>
Traditional geography formerly taught four oceans - the Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic, and Indian.
But in 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization combined the southern portions of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans to create a fifth addition to the list, the <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/oo.html">Southern Ocean</a>, shown above.
(h/t <a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/agt_michael_scarn">agt_michael_scarn</a>)
<h3> </h3>
<h3>2. Today, a food plate, not a pyramid, represents ideal nutrition.</h3>
<h3><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left"><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/537e56a76bb3f72c32ea91b3-650-487/03pyramid-plate-popup-1.jpg" border="0" alt="03pyramid plate popup" width="480" /><a href="http://choosemyplate.gov">choosemyplate.gov</a>The new food "plate"</div></div></h3>
At the behest of the First Lady in 2011, the USDA ditched its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyPyramid">2005 variation</a> of the original 1992 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USDA_Food_Pyramid.gif">food pyramid</a>.
The original suggested portions for various food groups, like 2 or 3 servings daily of dairy, while the new plate shows general amounts. For example, half your plate should include fruits and veggies.
"This is a quick, simple reminder for all of us to be more mindful of the foods that we're eating," Michelle Obama <a href="" This20is20a20quick20simple20reminder20for20all20of20us20to20be20more20mindful20of20the20foods20that20were20eating20Mrs.20Obama20said="">said at a news conference</a>.
(h/t <a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/puffer567">puffer567</a>)
<h3>3. We realized humans continually grow brain cells.</h3>
<h3><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5384c00beab8ea1333f4b409-1008-756/neurons-2.jpg" border="0" alt="neurons" width="480" />Wikimedia CommonsGolgi-stained neurons in human hippocampal tissue</div></div></h3>
Until the 1980s, scientists thought adult humans had all the neurons we'd ever have.
Working off previous research, a scientist named <a href="http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_basics/ninds_neuron.htm">Michael Kaplan</a> found neural precursor cells in the brain of an adult monkey, suggesting its brain underwent neurogenesis, or the creation of neurons.
Evidence of adult neurogenesis also appeared in the '90s but without adequate replicability.
Then, in 2013, <a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/35902/title/Human-Adult-Neurogenesis-Revealed/">researchers determined the age of hippocampus cells</a> from deceased individuals. Cells found younger than the individual effectively proved that the human brain does create its own neurons. Conclusively, the brain maintains a steady supply of younger cells - even though humans undergo an overall loss as we age.
(h/t <a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/HereForTheFish">HereForTheFish</a>) 
<h3>4. We finally understand how water travels into the cells.</h3>
<h3><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left"><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5384c06169beddc733dfdb95-800-600/aquaporins.png" border="0" alt="Aquaporins" width="480" />Wikimedia Commons</div></div></h3>
Previously, modern <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> couldn't quite explain how water traveled so rapidly through cell membranes. They include non-water-soluble phoso-lipid bilayer, which water can't pass through.
Then, in 2003, <a href="http://www.nobelprize.org/Nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2003/popular.html?print=1#.U4SiVZRdXvM">Peter Agre and Roderick MacKinnon</a> discovered protein channels in the cell membrane, called aquaporins, which allow water to enter the cell. They won the Nobel peace prize in chemistry for their work. The duo also researched a slew of other channels and valves crucial to our understanding of cell function.
(h/t <a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/andGuards">andGuards</a>)
<h3>5. We don't know as much about protons as we thought.</h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/50b8ffe76bb3f7822a000009-999-666/cern-2.jpg" border="0" alt="CERN Proton Particle Collision" width="480" /><a href="http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/lead-proton-collisions-at-large-hadron-collider-yield-surprising-results-1127.html">MIT</a>A proton collides with a lead nucleus</div></div>Previously, scientists thought they had the radius of a proton down. But in 2013, an international team of researchers conducted the study again, and they came up with a significantly different number. The <a href="http://www.livescience.com/26563-shrinking-proton-smaller-measurement.html">new measurement was about 4% smaller</a> than we previously thought. 
That difference, albeit small, presents sort of a puzzle. Either the earlier test was wrong, the new calculation is wrong, or we don't understand quantum electrodynamics - the way light and matter interact - as well as we thought.
(h/t <a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/Restrider">restrider</a>)
<h3>6. Brontosaurus isn't a real dinosaur anymore. In fact, it never was.</h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left"><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5384c1776bb3f7e314dfdb98-1200-924/brontosaurus-jurassic-park-3.png" border="0" alt="brontosaurus jurassic park" width="480" />Jurassic park</div></div>When you think of a giant plant-eating dinosaur with a lengthy neck, Brontosaurus probably comes to mind.
But technically, the Brontosaurus doesn't even exist. It actually resulted from a combination of two other dinosaurs: Apatosaurus and Camarasaurus. The misconception all started with a period in paleontology known as "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/changed-facts-2013-12">The Bone Wars</a>." Two paleontologists, Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope, were engaged in a bitter rivalry for evidence of dinosaurs.
In 1877, in the heat of the conflict, Marsh discovered a partial skeleton, unfortunately lacking a head, which he named Apatosaurus. He used the skull of another dinosaur, a Camarasaurus, to finish the replica.
But when Marsh discovered another skeleton two years later, he named it Brontosaurus, when in reality, he had just found a more complete Apatosaurus.
Scientists spotted the mistake in 1903, but the Carnegie Museum didn't replace the head on the skeleton until 1979. Many today still don't know the truth.
(h/t <a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/Soulrush">Soulrush</a>)
<h3>7. The "God Particle" is real.</h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5384c30b69bedd8e3cdfdb95-1104-827/higgs-boson-11.jpg" border="0" alt="higgs boson" width="480" /><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CMS_Higgs-event.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a>The Higgs Boson </div></div>As far back as the 1960s, scientists have theorized about the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-a-higgs-boson-2013-10">Higgs Boson</a>, or Higgs particle, also called the "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/physicists-discover-higgs-boson-2013-3">God Particle</a>." Its discovery was the final puzzle piece in the Standard Model, a physics theory that attempts to describe the interaction between particles - and thus, explain the creation and existence of all life.
The discovery of the Higgs Boson was of such vital importance that scientists spent 40 years trying to prove (or disprove it). And in 2013, François Englert and Peter W. Higgs finally did. They were awarded the <a href="http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2013/">Nobel Prize in physics</a> that year for their work discovering the particle.
(h/t <a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/spankybottom">spankybottom</a>)

7 Basic 'Facts' That Have Changed Since 2001

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/49258379.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" />Like every year, we had two stalwarts from the field of science taking away the Nobel Peace Prize in Physics this year as well. 
 <keyword id="3087989" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Takaaki-Kajita">Takaaki Kajita</keyword> from the University of Tokyo and Arthur B. McDonald from Queen's University, Canada were jointly awarded the prize along with eight million Swedish kronor. With this, the <keyword id="449075" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Royal-Swedish-Academy-of-Sciences">Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences</keyword> has given away the award exactly 109 times to 200 individuals between 1901 and 2015! 

	On the special occasion, we bring to you a list of the eight most recent <keyword id="3089701" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Physics-Nobel-Prize-winners">Physics Nobel Prize winners</keyword> and why they won it:
 The <keyword id="52659" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="nobel-prize">Nobel Prize</keyword> in Physics 2015: Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass. 
	The Nobel Prize in Physics 2014: Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources. 
	 
	<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/49258401.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" />
 

	The Nobel Prize in Physics 2013: François Englert and Peter W. Higgs for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. 
	 

	<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/49258413.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" />

	 
	The Nobel Prize in Physics 2012: Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems. 
	 

	<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/49258428.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /> 
	 

	The Nobel Prize in Physics 2011: Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt and Adam G. Riess for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae. 
	 

	<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/49258443.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" />

	 
	The Nobel Prize in Physics 2010 : Andre eim and Konstantin Novoselov for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material grapheme. 
	 

	<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/49258462.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" />

	 
	The Nobel Prize in Physics 2009: Charles Kuen Kao for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication; Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit - the CCD sensor. 
	 

	<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/49258467.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" />

	 
	The Nobel Prize in Physics 2008: Yoichiro Nambu for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics; Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa "or the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature. 
	 
	<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/49258477.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" />

8 of the recent Physics Nobel Prizes winners and
their amazing findings!

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54118c9fecad040f3625dd37-1200-924/mars-bar-2.jpg" alt="Mars Bar" border="0">REUTERS/Suzanne PlunkettThis is a deep fried Mars Bar.</img></div></div></div>
A list of awesome things Scotland gave to the world created by Mint Partner strategist Bill Blain is being passed around this morning.
Here's the list. Thanks Scotland!
Penicillin The Steam Engine and everything that followed it… TV The first powered boat The bicycle Electromagnetics The propeller The Sticky Plaster Sherlock Holmes The Carronade Geology Tubular Steel Railways The Threshing Machine The Tea Cake The Transatlantic Cable Insulin The Higgs Boson National Parks The Slab Laying Machine (my dad!) Modern McAdamised Roads The Kevin unit of temperature The Kaleidescope Tunnocks Caramel Wafers The Steam Hammer Cordite The Decimal Point Haemoglobin Logarithims Peter Pan The Fridge Canal Locks The Forth Rail Bridge First Man on the Moon Para Handy The Inner Tube The Lawnmower Tam o'Shanter Electric Clocks Statistics - including the pie chart, the line graph and the bar chart Beta blockers The Deep Fried Mars Bar The Bay City Rollers The Heavy Lift Crane Radar The Hammer Throw The toaster Proper Whisky?Surgery Anaesthetics Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Curling Hypnotics Japanese Lager - Kirin Antibiotics The Telephone The New York Herald The hypodermic syringe Marmalade Cardiology Jam, Jute and Journalism The Wealth of Nations and the "Science of Economics" Fingerprints The Dandy, The Beano, The Victor, The Hotspur Oor Wullie The Broons The Oatcake and Porridge Ultrasound Scanners Cure for Malaria The Encyclopedia (and the Encyclopedia Brittanica) The Bank of England The Bank of France - not kidding! Sociology (ok, forgive us again) Modern Justice Earthquake measuring - the seismometer The Shot Putt The fax machine Forbes Magazine Saturn John Bull (Not kidding!) Modern Surgery The Flushing Toilet Golf (forgive us) The Postcard The Tractor Beam - yes, it exists Long John Silver The Tire Cloned sheep - Dolly Proxima Centauri The Raincoat The eBook The American Navy The SAS

92 Wonderful Gifts That Scotland Gave To The World

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/48973039.cms" /> 
If you think of cows, slums and poverty – you surely have your roots elsewhere on earth. But if the name India reminds you of the super success of Mars Mission or IT corridors, you are truly an Indian. 
 
For those who know India, or are born here, this is a country which lives well within its complexities. Nothing seems like a puzzle. But for someone who is looking at India from outside, especially from western part of the world this nation is filled with mind-numbing complexities. 
 
Whether it is ancient India, or modern,the country has shown some awesome ways of counting, measuring, suturing, and educating. Moreover, India documented sex positions before the world even had the semblance to accept sex and promiscuity as part of human existence! 
 
Now don't ask us why India didn't learn to put math and sex together and control its population. It's just that, we worked on both of them with equal passion, much to create some 1.25 bn awesome people. Bite it now! Check this list below! 
 
Oh, the pride of 'giving'! 
Starting from 1200 BC and till the end of 18th century, India’s contribution to the development of mathematics is unparalleled and unmatched by any other nation. India is where most components of mathematics were born. Whether it is Algebra, trigonometry and calculus, or the Binary system on which computers run today, or even the value of Pi – India was in the forefront of this knowledge realm with names such as Aryabhata, Bhaskara, Mahavira, Brahmagupta and Nilakanta Somayaji. 
 
Zero the hero! 
It’s a popular joke to be shared among mathematics loving Indians that India’s contribution to the world was Zero! This contribution revolutionalised the number value system that the mathematics as a subject was to gain later. Indian mathematician Brahmagupta is said to have used this numeral way back in 650 AD to formalize arithmetic equations. 
 
The heart of Buddhism 
Though Buddha was born in the present day Lumbini Vana in Nepal, Buddhism that some part of the world has embraced today, originated in India and spread its wings along the Ganges Valley. Buddhism is the most peace-loving religion, which has remained unaffected by the modern vagaries. Some of the greatest personalities including Aung San Suu Kyi Richard Gere, Tina Turner and Tiger Woods have turned Buddhists. 
 
Shatranj and Mokshpath 
India was home for some of the finest games that involved usage of logic. Whether it was chess, (known as Shatranj); or Snakes and Ladders – known as Mokshapath, India was where they were born. 
 
Karate aka Kalaripayatt 
The basic tenets of this martial art called Karate, originated in India in the sultry spaces of southern states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This martial art, which is to have originated roughly 5000 years ago, is gaining popularity with every passing day across the world as a weaponless method of self-defense. 
 
Well, Surgery! When it comes to this branch of medicine, basic surgery originated in India way back in 600 BC, when Sushruta used it to treat his patients. He is the founding father of Surgery, as recounted by the world! 
 
Yo Yo <keyword id="6355812" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Yoga">YOGA</keyword>! Yoga, the best known way of maintaining health, originated in India in Indus-Saraswati civilization 5000 years ago. It is still practiced in its pure form by many people in India, without altering its soul. 
 
Ahimsa: The inspiring winner <keyword id="3056763" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Non-violence-or-Ahimsa">Non-violence or Ahimsa</keyword> has been India’s most significant contribution to the world at a time when in face of the most challenging times of the country. After being colonized for nearly two centuries by British, an Indian clothed in the most basic attire – a dhoti and shawl – showed the world that India can reap the dreams of a bright independent future, against the mighty forces as well. Ahimsa was later practiced by Africa too, to gain its independence under its first president Nelson Mandela. 
 
For god's sake In the most recent times, <keyword id="612968" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="god-particle">God Particle</keyword> shook the world of science and research with its accuracy and importance of going to the minutest detail of what was that elementary particle that held the world together. While the work won scientist Peter Higgs theNobel Prize, the basic argument for this discovery came from an Indian Satyendra Nath Bose’s work with Einstein way back in 1920s on quantum physics. 
 
India told you 69 is exciting! 
Now, this is last but not the least. World always copulated and reproduced. The first ever text on human sexual behaviour originated in India, between 400 BC and 200 CE. Vatsayana wrote this book in Sanskrit, on philosophy of love, marital life, spirituality of sex and sexual positions.

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