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It doesn't matter if you're a kid or a grown-up. It just so happens that you'll eventually see someone with a bigger, better toy than you, and you'll end up wanting to get something better than theirs.
Even amidst rational-minded scientists, the toys for these big boys can bring out the scientific equivalent of a mild tantrum.
In this case, the big toy in question is the Large Hadron Collider (or LHC), which is currently under construction at the CERN center in Geneva, Switzerland. By big toy, we mean BIG. The LHC is being built in a circular tunnel 50-175 meters underground (what with the energy being produced and all) and is 27 kilometers in circumference. The LHC would, at its completion, be the most powerful particle accelerator produced by mankind.
So what's the problem, and who's getting antsy over it?
In a nutshell, America's National Research Council wants their own big toy too, with a proposal given in April to have the government fund an International Linear Collider (ILC) on American soil. The council intends to trump the LHC with their proposed 30-kilometer (19 miles) particle accelerator. Bigger accelerator, better and more specific information on the nature and origins of the universe.
The potential cost? $12 Billion. Nice idea... but really bad timing.
Why they can't propose to spend this money on finishing the clean-up and welfare problems posed by last year's Hurricane Katrina, we may never know. They could always just share the gigantic accelerator, right?
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