December 27th 2008
Nono: I could not agree with you more; yes, 2008 has been an anti-climax year in particle physics, but 2009 lies dead ahead offering a continuation of optimism, excitement, anxiety, and justified concern.
Remember, the underlying purpose of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is to challenge, test, and/or validate the current interpretations of the 'Standard Model'; on which the LHC has already been designed and built upon!
*This paradox forms: CERN LHC is necessary to validate the theoretically-mathematic interpretations of the 'Standard Model', yet the LHC has been created upon the premise of a pre-existing (current) 'Standard Model' accuracy.
There is no way to escape this 'chicken or the egg came first' paradox, except by taking the calculated risk, and completing the experiments.
As 2009 approaches, and realizing the LHC has achieved thus far nothing spectacular (other than aligning the beams for safety-test collisions), I observe the scientific community holding high-hopes for possibly discovering ('IF' they exist):
>Parallel Dimensions
>Time Loops
>The Secrets of Controlling Plasma, Mass, Matter, Energy, and Gravitation. (Plasmatic Luminosity Fusion).
Only time will reveal nature's true hidden secrets, as we diligently 'seek and find' these perceptive-reality changing answers!!!
2009: the year in view - Times Online 2009: LHC gears up for July restart - NewScientist 2009: A longer delay for the Large Hadron Collider - CNET
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2008 - A Look Back:
LHC Article Index - MSNBC Photos - The damage that halted the LHC - CNET