Weird science

The “God particle” and the future of physics | Janie B. Cheaney

Here's the problem: according to the Big Bang theory, which is science's best guess as to the origin of the universe, everything that now is was once a single fundamental particle of unimaginable density. The "bang" that blew it apart created equal amounts of matter and antimatter, which should have extinguished each other. Instead, the universe is demonstrably full of stuff. Why?

Here, perhaps, is the solution: Sometime in July (or August) a 17-mile underground loop near Geneva will activate two opposing streams of subatomic particles at a velocity that will quickly ratchet up to just below speed of light. At four experimental stations along the route the particles will crash and explode, producing further particles, including—it is fervently hoped—one that has long been suspected but undetected. The project is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the Holy Grail of this massive science experiment is the Higgs boson, aka the "God particle."