Nobel Physics Prize Goes To Researchers Who Predicted Higgs Boson

Belgian physicist Francois Englert (left) and British physicist Peter Higgs talk at a July 12 news conference on what is thought to have been confirmation of the existence of the Higgs boson at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Meyrin.

Peter Higgs of Britain and Francois Englert of Belgium have won the 2013 Nobel Prize for physics for their work on a tiny particle believed central to explaining the universe.

Higgs was the first to predict the existence of the particle, the Higgs boson -- also known as the "God particle" -- in 1964.

His theory was recently confirmed through the discovery of the boson by teams working at the CERN nuclear research center in Switzerland.

The prize in physics -- announced by the Swedish Academy of Sciences on October 8 -- is the second of this year's Nobel prizes.

The prizes -- worth 8 million crowns ($1.2 million) -- were first awarded in 1901 in accordance with the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel.

The most anticipated prize -- for peace -- will be announced in Oslo on October 11.

Among the favorites for that award is the Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by Taliban militants last year for demanding education for girls.

Based on reporting by Reuters, RFE/RL, and AP