Stephen Hawking warns "God Particle" can end the universe and "we wouldn't see it coming"

By Staff Writer

Sep 08 2014, 23:46 PM EDT

Theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking issued a warning about the Higgs boson particle, saying that the Higgs boson doomsday could be responsible for the end of the universe. However, there is no evidence that it will happen any time soon.

According to NBC News, Hawking initially believed that the Higgs boson, or "God Particle," will not be discovered, but he was proven wrong in 2012 when the particle was first detected by physicists. The Times of India shares that the particle has been discovered in the world's largest particle physics laboratory in CERN. This "made physics less interesting" for Hawking, who recently warned that the Higgs bosom doomsday may herald the end of the universe.

NBC explains: "The Higgs boson particle is important to the Standard Model because it signals the existence of the Higgs field, an invisible energy field present throughout the universe that imbues other particles with mass."

Hawking's warning came in his new book, "Starmus." Huffington Post shares that "Starmus, 50 Years of Man in Space," included a preface addressing the "worrisome feature" of the Higgs. In Hawking's own words: "This could happen at any time and we wouldn't see it coming."

The Higgs boson doomsday theory explains that the particle could create a vacuum bubble which will expand and wipe the universe. However, NBC News clarifies that this theory has existed for some time and scientists believe it will not happen any time soon. In a lecture at the SETI Institute on September 2, theoretical physicist, Joseph Lykken pointed out that it would take "10 to the 100 years" for the alleged doomsday to happen. However, the scientist also counters, "On the other hand, it may already have happened, and the bubble might be on its way here now." Lykken further adds that there is no way of knowing because "it's going at the speed of light."

Despite Hawking's words, the idea of the end of the universe happening without warning is not alarming in present circumstances. According to Huffington Post, the alleged doomsday will only happen with a particle accelerator larger than Earth itself, and that does not exist. In fact, even Hawking himself said that such an accelerator is "unlikely to be funded in the present economic climate," reports MSNBC.

The Large Hadron Collider in CERN is the largest accelerator so far, and it has been helpful in the discovery of the Higgs boson particle.