LHC - the Large Hadron Collider

I know, I know, everyone is talking about this and discussing it and talking about the end of the world etc.. etc... I'm sure you've all heard enough about the Large Hadron Collider!

For me, it's a little different. Seeing the LHC come on line makes me sad. Sad for the simple fact that we could have been so much better off if both the LHC AND the superconducting supercollider had come on line together.

Comparison:

LHC	SCSC
length=27kms	length=87.1kms
collision strength=14 TeV	collision strength=40 TeV

This means that not only would the superconducting supercollider be 3 times longer but it would have very nearly 3 times as much colliding power. So, for example, if the Standard Model of Particle Physics is wrong, and more power is required for detecting the Higgs Boson (the so-called God particle), then the LHC will NEVER find it. Not to say they can't make other contributions - of course they will, but that would be a real bitch.

The LHC is still pretty cool though, not counting the LHC Rap.