Researchers announce in a seminar at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland, that experiments by a global team of scientists using the Large Hadron Collider's CMS and ATLAS particle detectors has resulted in the discovery of a particle that is “consistent with the Higgs boson” particle. The Department's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is the host laboratory for the U.S. contingent on the CMS experiment, while DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory hosts the U.S. ATLAS collaboration. At Fermilab, 200 scientists and staffers gather at 2 a.m. in an auditorium to watch the live announcement from Switzerland. Secretary Chu issues a statement. "Scientists have been looking for the Higgs particle for more than two decades," the Secretary says. "These results help validate the Standard Model used by scientists to explain the nature of matter."

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