In a recent broadcast of BBC Inside Science, presenter Tom Whipple descended approximately 100 meters beneath the Swiss border to explore the evolving landscape of particle physics at CERN. The journey begins at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), where the particle beams have been deactivated to facilitate the High-Luminosity LHC upgrade. Paulo Fessia, who serves as the deputy head of this upgrade initiative, provides insight into the technical modifications being implemented to enhance the machine’s capabilities.
Beyond high-energy collisions, the LHC’s infrastructure is being utilized for environmental research. In one of the facility’s large halls, Antti Onnela demonstrates how the sophisticated machinery functions in the study of cloud formation. Alongside Eva Sommer, the project’s Run Coordinator, the program details how aerosol particles interact within specialized chambers to generate clouds, offering critical data that helps refine global climate models.
The discussion also turns toward the next major phase of European particle physics: the proposed Future Circular Collider (FCC). Designed to be 3.4 times larger than the current LHC, the project carries an estimated price tag of £14 billion. Physicist Guy Wilkinson argues that the substantial investment is warranted by the potential scientific breakthroughs the facility would enable.
Addressing the practical implications of such a massive construction project, Whipple also examines what will become of the vast amounts of substrate excavated for the new tunnels. He visits the OpenSkyLab project in the fields above CERN, where plant scientist Christiana Staudinger and her team are working to convert this material into soil. This initiative aims to help replenish the world’s declining soil resources, turning a byproduct of high-energy physics into an agricultural asset.
The episode was produced by Ella Hubber, Katie Tomsett, and Ed Prendeville, with editing by Ilan Goodman and production coordination by Jana Bennett-Holesworth.
Does anyone else find it wild that we’re building a 3.4 times larger collider? The scale of human ambition here is staggering.
I had no idea CERN was studying cloud formation down there! The environmental applications of that technology are fascinating.
£14 billion for the Future Circular Collider seems steep, but if it unlocks new physics, maybe the investment pays off eventually.
Turning excavated dirt into fertile soil is such a clever sustainable twist. Never thought I’d see particle physics help agriculture.