Large Hadron Collider Goes Online

After today science will have a chance at discovering great unknowns and proving or disproving some of the most fundamental theories in physics. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will go online in CERN. Although I have no expertise in this subject matter I will try my hand at a quick summary of the most important points. Follow the jump for a brief introduction and a very nice video explaining it all in rap!

• Hadrons: a generic terms for subatomic particles that are made up of quarks. Some well known hadrons include protons and neutrons.
• Higgs Boson: this hypothetical particle is sometimes called the “God Particle”. This particle is thought to be behind the mass of massless particles like photons.
• Dark Matter: this is what accounts for the majority of the gravitational forces in the universe.
• Black Hole: a region of space where the gravitation pull is so enormous that nothing can escape it – not even light.

CERN Rap from Will Barras on Vimeo.

Finally I should say that some scientists are of the belief that these experiments may (with a statistically minute probability) lead to the creation of a small black hole thus leading to the end of life as we know it. Here’s hoping that it does not happen!