Inquiry: The Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will go on-line this summer. This gigantic particle accelerator, located in Switzerland, will be shooting protons to speeds up to 99.9999% the speed of light and then colliding them to discover the deepest secrets of matter and the universe. Physicists at the LHC will be looking for the Higgs Boson, the so called “God Particle” and missing piece of the Standard Model; they may also discover what makes up Dark Matter, the hidden mass of the universe, AND while they are at it, they will try to create some mini Black Holes. Science doesn’t get any bigger or more exciting than this. Tonight on Inquiry, we speak with DR. MONICA DUNFORD, Enrico Fermi Fellow at the University of Chicago, and one of the team of physicists currently at the Atlas section of the LHC. Dr. Dunford will talk about how the LHC will work and what it means for the future of physics, cosmology and all of us. For some stunning visuals, check out: http://atlas.ch while you listen.