The biggest news this week was probably the discovery of what is very likely the Higgs boson, the particle that gives rise to mass in the Standard Model. Not everyone knows what the Higgs is, though:

The rest of the links are below:

• Two Facts About Biomass: Kottke points to two short articles describing features about the planet’s biomass (one, two).
• A Skeptic Look at Alternative Energy: I like Vaclav Smil, so though I’m still reading through this one, I suspect it will be a good reference to point to.
• Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Self-directed Violence in Mothers: A crazy and spooky possible link between toxoplasma and suicide. [via @pickover]
• Physicists declare victory in Higgs hunt: Hawking says that this deserves the Nobel Prize, while Wolfram thinks this is a rather sad outcome. What do you think?
• The Busy Trap: If you are busy, I wholeheartedly recommend you to read this article.

Tagged as: links, news