The Higgs Boson is kind of a big deal. But what, exactly, is it? Scientists and journalists alike seem to be having trouble explaining it in layman’s terms, probably because it’s an incredibly complicated concept. Here’s some of the best — and by best we mean worst — similes, metaphors and analogies used to describe the elusive particle.
Even though Cara Santa Maria of the Huffington Post isn’t a physics expert (wipe those smirks off your faces, guys — she’s actually a neuroscientist), she’ll use an incredibly complicated metaphor to explain the Higgs boson. And she’ll talk really fast while doing it. So everyone’s looking for a wire in a bomb, and that’s the Higgs. Or, if you didn’t like that analogy, consider thinking about the Higgs as a giraffe. At this point Santa Maria apologizes for how poorly she explained everything and asks readers to submit their own analogies.