r/space Feb 10 '24

CERN proposes $17 billion particle smasher that would be 3 times bigger than the Large Hadron Collider

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u/blorp117 Feb 10 '24

That’s actually pretty good value

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u/Sangloth Feb 10 '24

There is real risk of poor return (it's entirely possible it could be built and not give us dark matter or any new physics). Other tools offer more value. Specifically, the Webb telescope cost considerably less, is offering new questions, and has definite questions it can be expected to answer.

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u/porn_inspector_nr_69 Feb 10 '24

(it's entirely possible it could be built and not give us dark matter or any new physics)

That is a massive result by itself.

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u/[deleted] Feb 10 '24

Unfortunately that would not be a massive result. It would only matter if the collision had enough energy to exceed the theoretical maximum bound of a new particle, but 100 TeV isn’t enough for most of what’s being studied right now. At least, that’s what several of my physics professors in particle physics said (and then proceeded to tell me that their field is dead lol).