Fermions vs Bosons: The Two Families of Particles

All particles in the universe fall into two families: fermions and bosons.
Fermions make up matter—electrons, protons, and neutrons are classic examples.
Bosons carry forces—like photons for light and gluons for the strong force.
Fermions obey the Pauli exclusion principle: no two can share the same state.
This rule gives atoms their structure and matter its stability.
Bosons, in contrast, love to share states and can pile into the same place.
This boson behavior makes lasers and Bose-Einstein Condensates possible.
Fermions have half-integer spin (½, 3/2…), while bosons have whole-number spin (0, 1, 2…).
The Higgs boson is famous for giving other particles mass.
Together, fermions and bosons form the building blocks and glue of the universe.