Scientists Close in on Higgs Boson 'God Particle' [REPORT]

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While scientists at CERN -- also the birthplace of the World Wide Web -- won't claim they've seen the Higgs boson itself, they will report they've collected enough data to say almost conclusively that it does exist.

Two independent teams are expected to deliver their results on Wednesday, July 4, according to the Associated Press.

The discovery of the Higgs boson particle would be a monumental achievement in particle physics which would better shape physicists' understanding of the universe's structure and origins. Finding the elusive particle would all but validate the "standard model" of physics, which predicts the existence of the particle and relies upon it as the reason why other basic particles have mass.

CERN's researchers have spent years and billions of dollars tackling particle physics' biggest unanswered questions, including the existence of the Higgs boson, with the use of the Large Hadron Collider. The LHC is the world's largest particle accelerator, coming online in 2008.

The Higgs boson was nicknamed the "God particle" by physicist Leon Lederman because of its important yet evanescent nature. The particle is a fundamental component of Higgs theory (theorized by British physicist Peter Higgs) which argues that the universe is connected by the Higgs field, which in turn is supported by the Higgs boson particle. Higgs' theory states that the Higgs particle played a key role in the creation of all matter and energy in the universe at the time of its creation.

CERN drew the attention of the world's science community late last year when its scientists announced progress in finding the Higgs boson.

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