In a recent news story on National Public Radio, I heard that the world’s largest particle accelerator is being built in Switzerland. Okay, it’s education time. This is for those of you who are oblivious to what a particle accelerator is. Here is the simple explanation, taken from www.npr.org:
“When the machine is running, particles taken from hydrogen atoms will zip both ways around the loop at close to the speed of light. They will collide in the center…with enormous energy, giving birth to a spray of new particles, perhaps some that no one has seen before” (www.npr.org)
Why is this a concern? According to the NPR report, particle accelorators have been known to create anti-matter and black holes. The black holes will be small and will only last for a thousandth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second. Physicists have stated that the chance of the appearance of black holes is slim to none.
I think this is a large step for the world of science toward understanding and discovering just how many different types of matter exist. Humans thirst for knowledge; this is a healthy, non-destructive way to gain it, so why not?