all the geniuses before us,and we still don't know why we're here!

I know why I'm here.

Hopefully most of us know more or less why we're here. I put this entry here because the article is very readable to anyone who isn't a particle physicist (most of us). It is presented with language that is understable and is only six pages long. It gives a historical synopsis of the study of physics to where we are today and what this LHcollider is attempting to answer. The God particle thing (Higgs boson) is taboo to some of the physicists because of its connotation, but nevertheless it is very elusive to observe, quantify, and prove its existence. The reason it is important is that it may help explain the missing components of the yet to be determined final theory of everything. You see, big bang theory should balance and the universe should have never existed (= antimatter = matter) they should have annihiliated each other leaving nothing, but that didn't happen and that is why we are here......It is all in the article, and it starts waxing philosophical at the end.

WoW, great article jarasan.
I would love to be a part of the team working on the project!!

They started building this one in the eighties. They feel that this thing is like a family member. I've read that when other projects similar to this end the dissassembly process is emotionally wrenching. The systems are so complex and unique they (the systems) develop characteristics as they are put thru their paces so that the results can vary even under the strictest of experimental parameters. Let's just say there is a lot of "tweeking" going on to get reproducible results consistently.

... a bit like studying music by repeatedly dropping pianos down a stairwell and listening for the noise. ;-)

Great article Jarasan, thank you for posting it!

time*treat, great analogy! Thanks.