Starts With A Bang Podcast #49 — The LHC And The Future Of Physics

It’s not about whether speculating theorists are right; it’s about looking where humanity has never looked before.

The Large Hadron Collider, located at CERN, is the most powerful particle accelerator and collider in human history, and the detectors that observe the collisional debris are the most sensitive and comprehensive ever constructed. With this powerful new tools, physicists discovered the Higgs boson earlier this decade, and continue to probe the frontiers of the known Universe.

Currently undergoing upgrades, the LHC has only collected, to date, 2% of the eventual data it will wind up collecting. Meanwhile, physicists are already planning for the future, looking to build a next-generation collider capable of probing the frontiers beyond the LHC’s reach.

Yet many detractors, dissatisfied with the motivations for pushing these boundaries forward, are working to obstruct this tremendous, civilization-scale endeavor. My guest this month on the Starts With A Bang podcast is Dr. James Beacham, a scientist who works as a member of CERN’s ATLAS collaboration. In a far-ranging discussion, we talk about the LHC and beyond as we face an uncertain but potential-filled future for particle physics. This is one discussion you won’t want to miss!

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