To cheers and standing ovations, scientists at the world's biggest atom smasher claimed the discovery of a new subatomic particle on Wednesday, calling it "consistent" with the long-sought Higgs boson - popularly known as the "God particle" - that helps explain what gives all matter in the universe size and shape.

"We have now found the missing cornerstone of particle physics," Rolf Heuer, director of the European Center for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, told scientists.

He said the newly discovered subatomic particle is a boson, but he stopped just shy of claiming outright that it is the Higgs boson itself - an extremely fine distinction.