What is CERN
At CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, physicists and engineers are probing the fundamental structure of the universe. They use the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments to study the basic constituents of matter – the fundamental particles. The particles are made to collide together at close to the speed of light. The process gives the physicists clues about how the particles interact, and provides insights into the fundamental laws of nature.
The instruments used at CERN are purpose-built particle accelerators and detectors. Accelerators boost beams of particles to high energies before the beams are made to collide with each other or with stationary targets. Detectors observe and record the results of these collisions.
Founded in 1954, the CERN laboratory sits astride the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva. It was one of Europe’s first joint ventures and now has 21 member states. …well that’s the official line from the CERN website.
What is CERN really about
So what are we to make of all this?
Are European scientists knowingly or unknowingly messing around with some very dark forces?
Let us hope that we don’t get a definitive answer to that question any time soon.
We might not like the answer.
And of course the scientific world doesn’t plan to stop here. At this point there are plans to have an even larger particle collider operational by 2026…
Physicists hope to eventually build larger accelerators that would produce collisions with even more energy than the LHC, which might allow them to discover new particles and better understand dark matter. The proposed International Linear Collider, for instance, would be more than 20 miles long, with a pair of accelerators facing each other straight on, rather than the familiar ring design of the LHC and other accelerators. It’s still pending, but could be built in Japan, with scientists hoping to have it operational by 2026.
I don’t have all the answers, but hopefully I have raised some very important questions in this article.
For more CERN information head to the CERN sub menus on this site


