The Controversial Search for the God Particle

Throughout history, science has inspired awe in some and fear from others; skeptics scoffed at Galileo Galilei for pointing out that the earth rotates the sun, Charles Darwin for offering a theory on evolution, and NASA for putting men on the moon. A large hadron collider, switched on in Geneva today, entailing the work of thousands of scientists from 80 countries, draws similar fear and even some lawsuits that seek to end such experiments. European countries funded the ambitious project that harnesses some 60,000 computers around the globe to analyze the substantial data anticipated from the project. “The highly complex models used in string theory point to the possible existence of up to 11 dimensions and also make predictions about the existence of some as-yet unobserved sub-atomic particles,” reports Spiegel Online. “Should the LHC be able to find some of those particles, a much touted theory of physics would have its first kernel of proof.” Scientific curiosity presses all boundaries to understand why and how the world works, leading to applications that can quickly change daily routines. The researchers anticipate many surprising discoveries, but not the end of the world. – YaleGlobal