TOW #11 Live Science Article

In an article on Live Science, Calla Cofield reports on the discovery of two examples of baryons produced in the proton smashing facility known as the Large Hadron Collider. Based on the level of terms explained in the article, such as protons, this article is directed at readers with casual interests in science. Cofield takes advantage of that. This article exaggerates the importance of the discovery of Xi_b'- and Xi_b*- by oversimplifying and comparing it to the discovery of the Higgs boson.

            While it is important to make science easier for readers like you and me to understand, sometimes the most accurate way is to avoid complicated points rather than reduce them. In Cofield’s article, she writes, “This is part of the Standard Model — the reigning theory of particle physics that outlines how the universe should behave,” (para. 9). This explaination portrays combinations of quarks as being central to the Standard Model and by extension the universe. The effect is powerful. Even though there are at least hundreds of combinations of quarks into baryons and mesons, plus combinations of particles in the Standard Model which aren’t quarks, this article makes the discovery of two baryons seem a profound step toward universal knowledge.

            Additionally, Cofield details a more important discovery that occurred in the same facility. She writes, “The discovery of the long-sought Higgs boson also represented the final piece of the puzzle predicted by the Standard Model,” (para. 11). By placing the discovery of the baryons in proximity to the Higgs, Cofield implies some comparable level of importance. However, it backfires. Juxtaposing the discovery of the particle which donates mass to the entire universe with the two most recent pieces of evidence for an accepted theory underlines the degree to which Cofield embellishes.

            Since 2008, the Large Hadron Collider has been producing important information about particles. However, some articles extend the importance of the collider's more ground-breaking research to trivial of experiments. Methods like simplification can make an esoteric but conventional occurrence seem like a miracle of science, but comparing one to the other is bound to reveal the discrepancy.