On March 30, two 3.5 TeV (teraelectron volt) energy beams will collide. This will happen at CERN, a research center on the Switzerland/France border.
Described by one CERN scientist as “firing needles from opposite sides of the Atlantic and getting them to collide,” tomorrow’s experiment may reveal secrets about dark energy or what the universe was like a second after the Big Bang.
Oh, you’re not a physicist? Then the book for you is The Quantum Frontier published by the JHU Press. The author explains in layperson’s language what we know now, and what we hope to know soon. Grab a copy of the book, and follow the action on the ATLAS control room blog.