On July 4, scientists announced they had discovered a new particle that may be the Higgs boson, an exploit that would rank as the greatest achievement in physics in more than half a century.
But they also created a headache for the jury who will decide tomorrow's Nobel Prize for Physics. Historic though it is, does the announcement deserve the award?
And if so, who should get it?
The breakthrough at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) touches on the agonising quest to find the "God particle", so called for being everywhere and elusive at the same time.
Named after British physicist Peter Higgs, the boson is a key to the concept of matter, as it could explain why particles have mass. Without the Higgs, the universe as we know it would simply not exist, according to the theory.
"It's a big discovery. That's all I'm going to say," said Lars Brink, a member of the Nobel committee for physics.