Stephen Hawking lost $100 bet over 'God particle'

Fireworks exploded throughout the physics community — just in time for the Fourth of July! — after this morning's announcement of the Higgs boson discovery. But one renowned scientist says the historic finding lost him a bet. Stephen Hawking, theoretical physicist and über-brain extraordinaire, says he threw down $100 on a wager (with fellow physics mucky-muck Gordon Kane) that the boson (popularly known as the God particle) wouldn't be found. Today, Hawking is apparently eating his words and forking over the cash, probably for a celebratory bottle of bubbly for both of them.