The great thing about these experiments is that there is no “bad” result. If the Higgs is found it will confirm the Standard Model; if not then it means the Standard Model is wrong which means lots of physics goes back the drawing board. Either result is exciting.

Editorial Comment – many people like to comapare science and religion and say that science is just another kind of “faith”. But the above illustrates why that’s not true. Scientists don’t mind upsetting the apple cart and proving conceptual models people have held for years to be wrong. In fact they think it’s kind of fun and go to great efforts to do so.

A religion would never do that – religious truth is considered Truth with a capital “T”. Christianity would never devote vast resources (like LHC) to something that might disprove the Ressurrection. But scientific truth is truth with a lower-case “t” – it’s provisional, and is good only as long as its predictions work out – if not, it’s out on its ear!

I thought the Guest explained the sceince and theories behind this experiment in a simple and entertaining way that brough a lay person like myself to understand it.

we need more shows and sciencists like these to keep the mob at bay.

well done, keep up the good work.

one question I wish I could have asked. What if the experiment doesn’t produce proof of theory they are looking for? is it back to square one? is Einstein wrong?

Youi don’t seem to understand what “random” means.

If the universe were random we’d be in a state of complete entropy. Obviously we’re not, else we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You don’t need some omniscient being to have physical laws.

I won’t argue theology here. I will say that the data we have on hand agrees that from the solar system level onwards, (which is all we can investigate in detail,) natural processes are responsible for the formation of stars and planets. However, one should not confuse natural processes with random processes. Gravity is a constant, not a random value. While a star’s output of energy varies, it is not random; the fluctuations may be variable, and chaotic, but certainly not random. For instance, we can predict the life cycle of the youngest star based on the spectrum of light it emits and it’s mass. Things like this aren’t the product of a random universe, but a universe that follows rules. There absolutely is order in this universe, even if there are chaotic elements, as well. And in the end, even chaos can be quantified, to a degree.

Very nicely written……. Thanks for a simple but very productive explanation.

However you believe the universe came into being, it has the appearance of being governed by rules, and the LHC will help us better understand those rules.

I agree on both counts!

Human beings are wired up to be curious and to continually strive to understand the world around them, building cognitive models of their world and testing them out. This has tremendous survival value, so much so that it’s hardwired into our nature – a basic appetitive drive like sex or tasty food – this is a fundamentally human thing to do.

In addition to that it may well turn out to have practical value – that would be great, but to me it’s icing on the cake.

BTW, most people don’t realize how amazing the technology is in their own possession. For example, flash memory is based on quantum mechanics (specifically quantum tunneling) – the very thing Einsten didn’t believe because he though that “God doesn’t play dice with the universe.” Yet today the thing Einstein didn’t believe is in all our iPods and cellphones.

I think the experiments are worth doing for their own sake, but if you insist: the most immediate benefits will likely be in micro-electronics and nanotechnology. After that, who knows.

Carolyn won a grant from her school to interview these people. Her goal was to look at the human element behind the science and to make the science accessible to everyday people. The folks at CERN treated her as though she was from the NY Times. Carolyn wrote an excellent blog on her visit at http://lhcmatters.blogspot.com.