The Simpsons Episode · 1998
Homer writes an equation on a chalkboard that accurately predicts the mass of the Higgs boson.
What Really Happened · 2012
Scientists at CERN confirmed the existence of the Higgs boson, 14 years after the episode aired.
2012
The Full Story
In 'The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace', Homer embarks on a backyard quest to become a great inventor, filling a chalkboard with equations — one of which, spotted by particle physicists years later, approximates the mass of the Higgs boson at around 775 GeV, strikingly close to the 125 GeV value CERN confirmed in July 2012. The episode aired fourteen years before the discovery that completed the Standard Model of particle physics. Homer did the maths by accident and never got credit.
The God Particle / Higgs Boson is one of
70 verified Simpsons predictions
tracked by Springfield Oracle — a public database of documented cases where The Simpsons
foreshadowed real-world events. This prediction appeared in S10E02 ("The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace"), which aired in 1998.
It was confirmed true in 2012.
Springfield Oracle collects and verifies every credible Simpsons prediction with primary source documentation.
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