Courtesy SBARTSTV via Youtube.Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland, yesterday succeeded in smashing subatomic particles together at 99 percent of the speed of light, which is more than three times the highest levels previously recorded.
This is a big freaking deal that could revolutionize the study of particle physics, according to people who understand this stuff. For those of us who don’t, The Atlantic Wire has a good roundup of Why the Large Hadron Collider Experiment Matters.
The green angle here is, uh, well, there basically isn’t one. Obviously any big scientific advances could, theoretically, wind up leading to sustainable uses. Bradford Plumer notes one more connection—scientists can focus on a huge, consequential project that isn’t radical, dangerous geoengineering.
My contribution to greater understanding on the subject is that a U.K. newspaper briefly called it a “Large Hardon Collider.” Keep coming back, now.
![](https://grist.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/truthiness-stephen-colbert.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=600)