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Higgs boson pioneers are knighted by the Queen
Two UK scientists connected to the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 have been awarded one of Britain's highest honors. As part of the Queen's Birthday Honours, professors Tom Kibble and Tejinder Virdee were knighted for their roles in helping find the elusive "god" particle, although they did so in very different ways. Kibble is widely revered for his co-discovery of the Higgs mechanism in the mid-1960s, which helped explain why the particles have mass. Virdee, on the other hand, played a crucial role in developing the concept of CERN's particle-detecting Compact Muon Solenoid (or CMS) in 1990. Decades later, scientists at CERN detected the Higgs boson using CMS and another detector, ATLAS.
Apple lead designer Jonathan Ive knighted for the New Year, how's your 2012 looking?
Apple Senior VP Jonathan (or Jony) Ive has been credited with fueling the company's resurgence alongside Steve Jobs with products like the iMac, iPhone and iPad, and for these successes has been made a Knight Commander of the British Empire as a part of the New Year's Honour's List. Aside from having a much better NYE celebration than yours, he'll be tapped on the shoulders by the Queen's sword and that will forever be Sir Jony to you, commoner (we'll see if he can make it through the ceremony without suggesting some tweaks for better balance and usability -- you can see his passion above as he eats an invisible sandwich pontificates about new iMacs). It's a bump up from his previous title of Commander of the British Empire and keeps the cycle going, as he released a statement appreciating the benefit of a "wonderful tradition in the UK of designing and making". [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
