It is fitting that the latest battle between God and science is apparently being waged in neutral Switzerland. The Large Hadron Collider, a 27 kilometre, almost otherworldly piece of equipment is said to be ready to power up once more. In September of 2008, the LHC was set to run, and enthusiastic scientists around the world were hoping that it could meet its main goal, which was a small recreation of the conditions of the universe in the microseconds after the Big Bang. On top of this attempt, a whole series of experiments were set to take place, which were meant to give us a greater understanding of our universe and its foundational framework. Instead, after a frustrating nine days, one of the 25,000 small joints that connects the magnets of the LHC came loose, forcing the whole thing to shut down. It is only recently, within this month, that it managed to regain a degree of functionality. However, just as it was getting cranked up again, another setback. This time, not a mechanical failure, but an act of God. Or at least, the act of a bird. Two weeks ago, one of our winged friends managed to swoop in and drop a piece of bread into the $10 billion device, forcing it to shut down.
While the problems appear to have been fixed and the folks in Switzerland are just about ready to get down to some good, old fashioned particle colliding, reaction to the LHC has not been wholly positive. It seems that wherever science attempts to make advances, quacks cannot be too far behind. Indeed, a couple of the theories for why the LHC has had such difficulties suggest that perhaps humans are not quite evolved enough to figure out exactly how this universe thing got underway.
One of the major hopes for the LHC is that it will allow scientists to observe the Higgs–Boson particle, which is the only particle in the Standard Model particle physics that has not been located. At the moment, it is merely predicted to exist, so as to give various theories of physics some credence. Of course, there is reason to believe it does exist, so experiments like the ones capable of being performed by a functioning LHC could be critical in developing such theories. But this run of bad luck has brought some strange theories itself. Some people are questioning whether the weird occurrences are not simply bad fortune, but the work of God. It is being suggested that perhaps God hates the Higgs–Boson particle. Could He have such a vendetta?
