Join us for a talk by Reston physicist Dr. Michael Albrow, who in 1964 started studying tiny particles like electrons and protons. At the same time, Peter Higgs came up with a theory that explained how different forces, like electricity and radioactivity, work. His idea also explained why particles have mass — for example, why an electron in your finger weighs the same as one far away in space. He said space isn’t empty but filled with a special field that is the same everywhere. This field is different from electric or magnetic fields because it doesn’t point in any direction. Higgs predicted there should be a particle connected to this field, now called the Higgs boson, sometimes nicknamed "the God particle." Almost 50 years later, this particle was finally found using the Large Hadron Collider, the biggest and most complex scientific machine ever built. Dr. Albrow helped make this important discovery, which made headlines around the world.