Without that law in effect, the fabric of the universe unravels. In this universe at least, cause always comes before effect. It gets even worse: If the principles of special relativity hold true, tachyons aren't just breaking the universal speed limit, they're also violating causality itself. We have universal laws for a reason, people.

I know what you're wondering: How can a tachyon travel faster than the speed of light if light speed is indeed the 'universal speed limit'? That's like saying 'no ducks can wear pants,' and then the camera pans over to a mallard wearing friggin' corduroys. The same can be said of the Higgs boson, so let's get to know the other subatomic super villains. The Joker might be Batman's most famous enemy, but he's hardly the strangest. Meanwhile, the so-called 'god particle' lives a brief existence in the wake of an accelerated particle collision - and then leaves behind a subatomic decay signature. In other words, someone robbed the bank and, oh look, it must be the Joker because - ever the literalist - he left behind a calling card with his face on it. Theoretically, the Higgs particle emits the Higgs field, a cosmos-wide energy field that bestows everything with mass - so if the standard model is valid, then the Higgs must exist. However, the model only works if the particles around us had zero mass in the period immediately following the big bang.

And the electroweak force unites the electromagnetic and weak forces, two of the four fundamental forces of nature, along with the strong force and gravity. The standard model proposes that electricity, magnetism, light and some types of radioactivity are all manifestations of something called the electroweak force.

This theoretical (as of this writing) particle is central to the standard model of physics. While Batman brawls with anarchist clowns and mutated ecoterrorists, CERN scientists seek to identify and apprehend such notable adversaries as the Higgs boson.

Subatomic particles