Professor Stephen Hawking says that physics is LESS interesting after 'God particle' discovery Professor Hawking made the claims at the Science Museum in London He said the discovery of the so-called God particle was 'disappointing' He also admitted he bet a fellow physicist $100 that it would never be found The 71-year-old was speaking at the launch of the museum’s new Collider exhibition.

Hawking's Theory:

Physicist Professor Stephen Hawking, pictured, admitted he was disappointed when the Higgs boson 'God particle' was found

The discovery of the Higgs boson ‘God particle’ was widely considered the biggest scientific breakthrough of modern day - so much so it won this year’s Nobel Prize for Physics - but not everyone was quite so impressed. 

Leading physicist Professor Stephen Hawking has admitted he was disappointed by the discovery and believes ‘physics would be far more interesting if it had not been found.’

The 71-year-old made the claims during a sold-out event at London’s Science Museum to celebrate the launch of its new Collider exhibition.

The exhibition gives visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the LHC and CERN particle physics laboratory in Geneva.

The Higgs boson's role is to give the particles that make up atoms their mass.

It has been described as the ‘missing piece’ of the Standard Model, which explains how the parts of the universe that we understand interact with one another.

Without this mass, particles would zip around the cosmos, unable to bind together to form the atoms that make stars and planets - and people.

The particle was confirmed using the Large Hadron Collider - the highest-energy particle collider ever made, built by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in 2012.

The 71-year-old professor made the claims during a sold-out event at London's Science Museum to celebrate the launch of its new Collider exhibition, pictured. The new exhibition gives visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the LHC and CERN particle physics laboratory in Geneva

WHAT IS THE HIGGS BOSON?

The Higgs boson's role is to give the particles that make up atoms their mass. 

It has been described as the ‘missing piece’ of the Standard Model, which explains how the parts of the universe that we understand interact with one another

Without this mass, particles would zip around the cosmos, unable to bind together to form the atoms that make stars and planets - and people.

The particle was confirmed using the Large Hadron Collider - the highest-energy particle collider ever made, built by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in 2012.

However, our knowledge of particle physics is still far from complete, with mysteries such as the nature of dark matter to still be solved. 

Professor Hawking also had a more personal reason to lament the discovery, which earned Edinburgh scientist Professor Peter Higgs a £776,000 share of the Nobel Prize in Physics.

‘I had a bet with Gordon Kane of Michigan University that the Higgs particle wouldn't be found,’ he said. ‘The Nobel Prize cost me $100.’

During this talk, the Professor also discussed being the longest known survivor of ALS, or motor neurone disease, and his slacker days as a student of natural science at Oxford University.

He admitted he once calculated he did about 1,000 hours of work during his three years at Oxford - an average of an hour a day.

‘Because of my lack of work, I had planned to get through the final exam by doing problems in theoretical physics and avoiding questions that required factual knowledge. 

'But I didn't sleep the night before the exam, because of nervous tension, and so I didn't do very well. I was on the borderline between a first and second class degree.’

Nonetheless Hawking was awarded a first and went on to pursue a career in mathematics and cosmology at Cambridge University, where he is now Director of Research at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.

Professor Hawking also explained why he believes in one of the most exotic ideas in physics today, M-theory, which proposes the existence of a myriad different universes all created out of nothing.

‘These multiple universes can arise naturally from physical law,’ said Professor Hawking. 

Professor Hawking also had a personal reason to lament the discovery, which earned Professor Peter Higgs, pictured at the Collider exhibition, the Nobel Prize in Physics. Professor Hawking said: 'I had a bet with Gordon Kane of Michigan University that the Higgs particle wouldn't be found. The Nobel Prize cost me $100.'

‘Each universe has many possible histories and many possible states at later times, that is, at times like the present, long after their creation. 

'Most of these states will be quite unlike the universe we observe, and quite unsuitable for the existence of any form of life. Only a very few would allow creatures like us to exist.

‘Thus, our presence selects out from the vast array only those universes that are compatible with our existence. Although we are puny and insignificant on the scale of the Cosmos, this makes us, in a sense, lords of creation.’

Professor Hawking believes it is possible the first evidence for M-theory will be seen at the LHC.

The theoretical physicist also said that the future of the human race depends on going into space.

‘I don't think we will survive another thousand years without escaping beyond our fragile planet,’ Professor Hawking continued.

Ending his talk, he told his audience: ‘So remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and hold on to that child-like wonder about what makes the universe exist.’

Professor Hawking also explained why he believes in M-theory, which proposes the existence of different universes all created out of nothing. He believes it is possible the first evidence for M-theory will be seen at the Large Hadron Collider, as celebrated at the Science Museum's latest exhibition pictured