Science Tech 2008: Large Haldron Collider

Author JoeDigital

The Large Hadron Collider is a Milestone in Physics

The year 2008 brought about something that highest of all high techs have longed to have for years. What I’m talking about is the fabled Large Hadron Collider, at CERN.For many, the LHC was as mysterious, and carried the same alarm as the thought of nuclear power reactors once did. Since it is designed to work with some of the smallest particles known, there was little knowledge to back up theories behind what it was intended to do. For most, however, fears of a black hole suddenly swallowing the Earth were just amusing statements.

Making history as the biggest physics experiment ever built, the LHC was designed primarily as a tool to search for the Higgs boson, which is theorized to carry the force that gives all matter in the universe its mass. The LHC went online as planned, and initial tests were very positive, but a transformer was damaged in the first days, and an elecrical short caused severe damage to one section, knocking the LHC offline again for several months.

Just as the Hubble Telescope began it’s continuing journey of history making, initial flaws are delaying the great discoveries that are sure to be made, but the LHC is still expected to be fully operational as early as the second quarter of 2009.

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