14 DAY TRIAL // We have all heard about the Large Hadron Collider, it is the biggest and highest energy particle accelerator in the world. Essentially, it is a big ring, located beneath the border between France and Switzerland, with the central part on the outskirts of Geneva. Its purpose is to collide beams of protons in order to recreate, on a small scale, the reactions that took place when the Universe was born (Big Bang). There have been grave doubts about the safety of this experiment, with rumors that microscopical black holes were to be created that would eventually engulf the whole Earth. Despite these end of the world theories, the first experiment took place a few weeks ago and there's no black hole in sight.
But while the physicists were hard at work at the LHC, the chemists from the Royal Society of Chemistry in London thought that the name was a bit boring and held a survey to choose a better one. Although the LHC is the most appropriate description for the ring, it doesn't really portray the amplitude and value of the experiment to regular people, so almost 2,500 entries were submitted. From Colliderscope to The Big Banger or The Matter Splatterer, a lot of names were entered by users in hope that their idea would be the new name of the LHC. Despite all these really “interesting” options, the one that got the most votes was “Halo”. The RSC stressed the importance of this option, “Halo conjures visions of radiant beauty, power and wisdom. The circle of light reflects the collider's form; it is a crowning achievement of science and engineering. It also gives more than a nod to the experiment's importance to religious debate”.
The Society will submit this new name to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) which is the governing body for the LHC. But don't get your hopes high yet, CERN declared through their spokesperson, James Gillies, that “We're flattered that the RSC should take such an interest in our public image, and we find the name Halo to be apposite. However, the LHC will not be changing its name”.
Halo would be a better name, but for a gamer like myself, it doesn't really bring that safe and angelic image when thinking about it, but of futuristic shooters.