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Uncovering Nature’s secrets: The Large Hadron Collider nears completion
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February 18th, 2008 • Filed under: Science
I was reading an article in Scientific America that reminded me I really must go and witness the aweness of CERN sooner rather than later. CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research, and home to the world’s largest particle collider, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), soon to become operational (summer 2008).
For someone who doesn’t really care about physics (not to mention particle physics) this doesn’t say much. Although it should. I recently saw the following comment in MSNBC CosmicLog article about “Big Science’s Big Day” (my emphasis):
This is a typical comment coming form many people and unfortunately it is a recurring theme that is driving funding away from fundamental physics and sciences in general. But you don’t have to go further than the previous record of advancements that originated directly from particle physics and fundamental sciences. The Quantum Theory alone has given us everything from advanced chemistry and medicine, to pretty much all of the technological advancement we see around us today. So this comment highlights the need for more basic science education! Anyway, back to the LHC. So why is it so important?
The LHC will attempt to answer fundamental questions that have been left unanswered through decades of technological inadequacy to probe in subatomic scales. The reason being the extreme energies required in order to accelerate particles and perform meaningful collisions. Because it is with high energy particle collisions and observations of the results that we can “see” in scales so unimaginably small!
And indeed the LHC might provide answers related to the fundamental origin of mass and matter; the existence of the Higgs Boson (which in theory is what gives the elementary particles their masses); the origin of dark matter; the possibility of extra dimensions, which incidentally will strengthen the family of string theories and interpretations; and a vast array of other breathtaking possibilities that are believed to bring a whole new era of particle physics! The excitement around this project is huge and justifiably so! Personally I cannot wait to see what will come out of the LHC experiments! And even if the LHC does not produce the results that physicists expect, then here is what Lawrence Krauss, a theoretical physicist had to say (my emphasis):
The LHC is scheduled to start operating within 2008, and hopefully it will be open to visits. And indeed I find such a visit to see a pinnacle of science and technology, that demonstrates the never-ending charge towards the truth, nothing less of exciting!
For someone who doesn’t really care about physics (not to mention particle physics) this doesn’t say much. Although it should. I recently saw the following comment in MSNBC CosmicLog article about “Big Science’s Big Day” (my emphasis):
Okay. Can someone PLEASE explain the significance of this event in laymen’s terms please?? We are living in a world where hunger, poverty, disease, war, and general ignorance constantly threatens our long-term existence. How is this 5 Billion dollar device going to improve the living conditions of the inhabitants of this planet????????
This is a typical comment coming form many people and unfortunately it is a recurring theme that is driving funding away from fundamental physics and sciences in general. But you don’t have to go further than the previous record of advancements that originated directly from particle physics and fundamental sciences. The Quantum Theory alone has given us everything from advanced chemistry and medicine, to pretty much all of the technological advancement we see around us today. So this comment highlights the need for more basic science education! Anyway, back to the LHC. So why is it so important?
The LHC will attempt to answer fundamental questions that have been left unanswered through decades of technological inadequacy to probe in subatomic scales. The reason being the extreme energies required in order to accelerate particles and perform meaningful collisions. Because it is with high energy particle collisions and observations of the results that we can “see” in scales so unimaginably small!
And indeed the LHC might provide answers related to the fundamental origin of mass and matter; the existence of the Higgs Boson (which in theory is what gives the elementary particles their masses); the origin of dark matter; the possibility of extra dimensions, which incidentally will strengthen the family of string theories and interpretations; and a vast array of other breathtaking possibilities that are believed to bring a whole new era of particle physics! The excitement around this project is huge and justifiably so! Personally I cannot wait to see what will come out of the LHC experiments! And even if the LHC does not produce the results that physicists expect, then here is what Lawrence Krauss, a theoretical physicist had to say (my emphasis):
From a theoretical perspective, [this will] mean that every basic idea we have about the fundamental structure of matter, in some way, is wrong. And there’s nothing more exciting than that.These two sentences highlight exactly what science is all about. The excitement in finding that some of your theories are wrong! Because you are moving further towards how Nature truly operates!
The LHC is scheduled to start operating within 2008, and hopefully it will be open to visits. And indeed I find such a visit to see a pinnacle of science and technology, that demonstrates the never-ending charge towards the truth, nothing less of exciting!
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