# Has the Large Hadron Collider found anything interesting yet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 7, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-large-hadron-collider-found-anything-interesting-yet/588223 "2011-07-07T19:57:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-large-hadron-collider-found-anything-interesting-yet/588223/41 "2011-07-10T05:43:05Z")
Related question: What’s the point of finding the Higgs-Boson? I mean, what could we get out of it? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-large-hadron-collider-found-anything-interesting-yet/588223/42 "2011-07-10T15:36:25Z")
What we could get out of it is understanding. Where might that understanding lead? We don’t know; we don’t have it yet. ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-large-hadron-collider-found-anything-interesting-yet/588223/43 "2011-07-10T15:42:54Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > Related question: What’s the point of finding the Higgs-Boson? I mean, what could we get out of it? There is likely little _practical_ value in searching for the Higgs boson. The analogy would be “what’s the point of looking at the sky with telescopes?” The point is to understand the world around us. In the case of the Higgs, finding it or not finding it will tell us whether the Standard Model of particle physics is correct. If there is no Higgs (or Higgs-like particle) then we really have to step back and re-think a lot of our theoretical framework. There is also no reason to look only for the Higgs; we want to look for _any_ particles that might be out there. The Higgs gets a lot of press because it is 1) the next logical (and least speculative) particle we expect to find (the last unobserved particle in the Standard Model of particle physics), 2) we really do expect to find it soon (it was surprising it was not seen at the last major accelerator, the Tevatron), and 3) it has an interesting role – giving particles their mass (so it got given the silly name ‘God particle’). But even if the Higgs weren’t a factor, we would still be searching for new particles/physics at higher energies (there is no reason not to expect new and exciting things – in fact there is good reason _to_ so called ‘beyond the standard model’ physics). ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-large-hadron-collider-found-anything-interesting-yet/588223/44 "2011-07-10T15:53:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Oh, I was doing a text search, not images. And I call Google smart because it delivers non-porn when non-porn is sought, while still delivering porn when porn is sought. It’s _almost_ as if it’s reading your mind… …hmmmmmmm… Who wants to invest in my Tin-Foil Hat Company start-up? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-large-hadron-collider-found-anything-interesting-yet/588223/45 "2011-07-10T20:35:50Z")
> [@](#): > > and 3) it has an interesting role – giving particles their mass (so it got given the silly name ‘God particle’). Actually, that’s short for “God-damned particle”, so called because of the frustration researchers have had with not finding it. ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-large-hadron-collider-found-anything-interesting-yet/588223/46 "2011-07-11T00:16:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Actually, that’s short for “God-damned particle”, so called because of the frustration researchers have had with not finding it. My understanding is pretty much what Cecil [said](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2850/what-is-the-god-particle): _Lederman says the God particle was so named because (a) it’s short for “goddamn particle,” presumably owing to the difficulty of establishing its existence, and (b) finding proof of said existence would help us understand the “mind of God.”_ Regardless of precisely what was meant by b), it is arguably a more unique particle than your basic leptons and quarks and gauge bosons, and this is often run with a little overboard in the media. ---
**Author:** ![resmoplus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f6c823/32.png) [@resmoplus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/resmoplus)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-large-hadron-collider-found-anything-interesting-yet/588223/47 "2011-07-11T08:26:15Z")
The Large Hadron Collider have never found anything beneficial for mankind. It was manufactured to satisfy the ignorance of a few physicists. ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-large-hadron-collider-found-anything-interesting-yet/588223/48 "2011-07-11T13:10:46Z")
Maybe you can give us a list of all the other physicists that already know everything? What on earth do you mean by your post? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-large-hadron-collider-found-anything-interesting-yet/588223.md?page=2)