The Week: Most Recent Science

Einstein wins: Debunking the 'faster-than-light' neutrinos

The Week — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:12:00 -0600

Light is once again the speediest thing in the known universe. Last September, OPERA, a project organized by an international group of physicists, boldly proclaimed that it had clocked some neutrinos, sub-atomic particles, moving faster than light. It was a shocking result, since Albert Einstein's longstanding theory of relativity says that nothing is faster than light. Well, it turns out Einstein was right all along. Late Wednesday, Science Insider broke the news that OPERA's experiment was flawed — its results compromised by a faulty connection between a GPS receiver and a computer. Indulging...

The new, 'tantalizing hints' of the 'God particle'

The Week — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:32:00 -0600

After months of subatomic particle smashing, two teams of researchers at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, announced Tuesday morning that they've each recorded hints of the elusive Higgs boson, better known as the universe-creating "God particle." Here's what you should know:

What exactly is this "God particle"?
The Higgs boson is an elusive, subatomic particle "that was predicted to exist nearly 50 years ago," says Alok Jha at Britain's Guardian. And though scientists have been hunting for evidence of the particle for decades, they've had "no solid proof that it was real." Still...

The hunt for the 'God Particle': Will we ever find it?

The Week — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:18:00 -0500

Researchers at the CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) facility in Geneva say the "God particle", also known as the Higgs boson, will be found within the next year — if it exists. The elusive, and possibly mythical, particle is believed to have helped give shape to the universe after the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago, and would be the final puzzle-piece that scientists need to corroborate their universe creation theory. Here's what you should know:

First off: What's a God particle?
Named after British physicist Peter Higgs, the Higgs boson is the only elementary particle...

Particles that move faster than light: Was Einstein wrong?

The Week — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:36:00 -0500

Albert Einstein sits atop the pantheon of scientists because of his seminal theory of relativity — but new research from scientists working in Switzerland and Italy suggests that Einstein might have been wrong. OPERA, an international group of physicists at CERN's particle accelerator outside Geneva, claim to have tested neutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light — which Einstein maintained is the fastest thing in the universe. What exactly did the physicists find, and what are the implications? Here's what you should know:

What are neutrinos?
Neutrinos are virtually...

The Big Bang machine's 'incredible' antimatter trap

The Week — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:00:00 -0500

Scientists at CERN, the European lab for particle physics, are celebrating an "incredible" success: trapping antimatter atoms for nearly 17 minutes. That's a major step in our quest to better understand the history and invisible workings of our universe. Here, a guide to the research:

First things first: What is antimatter?
The subatomic particles — protons, neutrons, and electrons — that make up all the matter around us have, or had, corresponding particles with the same mass but the opposite electric charge. That's antimatter.

So where is all this antimatter?
When antimatter and matter...

The Large Hadron Collider: A time machine?

The Week — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 06:10:00 -0500

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was built to replicate the conditions at the Big Bang, and answer humanity's most basic questions — what are we made of and how did we come to exist? Scientists are still working on that, but have stumbled across something that promises to be even more exciting: The possibility of time travel. Here, an instant guide:

What is the Large Hadron Collider, again?
It's a 17-mile-long particle accelerator built deep underground in Geneva, Switzerland. Scientists hope to use it to discover the Higgs boson, or the "God particle." This mysterious subatomic particle is...

What the 'Large Hadron Collider' might do: 6 theories

The Week — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:35:00 -0500

After two years of delays, the Large Hadron Collider is finally up and running — and hasn't yet destroyed the universe. The 17-mile particle accelerator, based in Geneva, Switzerland, has begun smashing together subatomic particles at near-lightspeed velocities in the search for the "Higgs Boson," an elusive piece of matter also known as the "God particle." But what else will this colossal $9 billion machine do? Here 6 theories of what the Big Bang Machine will accomplish:

1. Kill us all
The "early collisions" in the now-operational LHC might seem to disprove "doom-monger" theories that the...

The latest Tweets on the 'Large Hadron Collider'

The Week — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:28:00 -0500

The Big Bang machine

The Week — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:54:00 -0600

What is the Large Hadron Collider?
It’s the largest machine in the world, built to unlock the deepest secrets of the universe. Located 300 feet below ground along the border between France and Switzerland, the LHC is housed inside a mammoth circular tunnel measuring 17 miles around. The tunnel contains two large tubes lined with more than 1,000 powerful magnets cooled by helium to just above absolute zero, so that they offer virtually no resistance to the current flowing through them. The tubes channel beams of lead ions and hydrogen protons and neutrons—the largest components of atoms...