Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Large Hadron Collider Passes First Big Test

Anytime I start feeling too "elitist", all I have to do is read about subatomic physics -- after a few minutes of trying to digest particles and anti-particles, mesons and bosons, my own intellectual limits come into focus rather quickly. :) That said, I continue to be fascinated by the ongoing effort in Europe to explore more of the amazing world of the unknown that defines our reality.

Today comes news that the Large Hadron Collider project -- a huge particle accelerator built deep in the ground below farmland in France and Switzerland -- has passed its first major test. Scientists were able to successfully accelerate protons around the full length of the 17-mile accelerator tunnel.

I'm sure we'll be hearing more about the LHC in the future. (And no, it is not going to generate a black hole that will destroy the earth, as exciting as that sounds.)

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