Uploaded February 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
To find the Higgs boson, a global collaboration of scientists and engineers had to design and build the most complicated machine ever. In this episode, we look at how the Large Hadron Collider was built and why it almost didn’t see the light of day.
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When the search for the Higgs began there was nothing that could get them going fast enough. So scientists set to work and in the 1980s they proposed the biggest, baddest proton smasher imaginable. No, not the Large Hadron Collider, we're talking about America’s Superconducting Super Collider. Sounds pretty super doesn’t it?
The SSC, as it’s known for short, was supposed to be an absolutely mammoth machine. It would have been a ring nearly 90 kilometers around running underneath Texas, capable of smashing protons together with an energy of 40 trillion electron volts. It was supposed to be so absurdly powerful that the governments of Europe nearly scrapped their plans for their own accelerator. Fortunately for us, they didn’t.
Europe’s accelerator is, of course, the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC. Hadrons are particles that interact with the strong force, like protons, in case you ever wondered. The LHC is often called the most complex machine ever built by humans, which is quite a claim.
#GodParticle #LargeHadronCollider #SuperconductingSuperCollider #Seeker #SeekerPlus
Read More:
How Particle Accelerators Work
energy.gov/articles/how-particle-accelerators-work
“A particle accelerator is a machine that accelerates elementary particles, such as electrons or protons, to very high energies. On a basic level, particle accelerators produce beams of charged particles that can be used for a variety of research purposes.”
Inside the Large Hadron Collider
symmetrymagazine.org/article/inside-the-large-hadron-collider
“The LHC collides two beams of protons at a combined energy of 13 TeV, or 13 trillion electronvolts. An electronvolt is a unit of energy, like a calorie or a joule. Electronvolts are used when to talk about the energy of motion of really small things such as particles and atoms.”
The Supercollider That Never Was
scientificamerican.com/article/the-supercollider-that-never-was
“The Texas-based high-energy accelerator would have easily found the Higgs and been capable of searching for still more evidence of new physics”
--
Seeker+ is your home for deep dives, fun facts, rabbit holes, and more. Join host Julian Huguet as he unapologetically nerds out on the oddball history, astounding science and intriguing future around topics that will make you the smartest person at your next trivia night.
--
Seeker empowers the curious to understand the science shaping our world. We tell award-winning stories about the natural forces and groundbreaking innovations that impact our lives, our planet, and our universe.
Follow us on TikTok: tiktok.com/@seeker
Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/seeker
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/seeker
To find the Higgs boson, a global collaboration of scientists and engineers had to design and build the most complicated machine ever. In this episode, we look at how the Large Hadron Collider was built and why it almost didn’t see the light of day.
» Subscribe to Seeker+! bit.ly/SeekerPlusSubscribe (then hit the little 🔔 icon and select “all.“)
» Watch more! bit.ly/SeekerPlusPlaylist
» Visit our shop at shop.seeker.com
When the search for the Higgs began there was nothing that could get them going fast enough. So scientists set to work and in the 1980s they proposed the biggest, baddest proton smasher imaginable. No, not the Large Hadron Collider, we're talking about America’s Superconducting Super Collider. Sounds pretty super doesn’t it?
The SSC, as it’s known for short, was supposed to be an absolutely mammoth machine. It would have been a ring nearly 90 kilometers around running underneath Texas, capable of smashing protons together with an energy of 40 trillion electron volts. It was supposed to be so absurdly powerful that the governments of Europe nearly scrapped their plans for their own accelerator. Fortunately for us, they didn’t.
Europe’s accelerator is, of course, the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC. Hadrons are particles that interact with the strong force, like protons, in case you ever wondered. The LHC is often called the most complex machine ever built by humans, which is quite a claim.
#GodParticle #LargeHadronCollider #SuperconductingSuperCollider #Seeker #SeekerPlus
Read More:
How Particle Accelerators Work
energy.gov/articles/how-particle-accelerators-work
“A particle accelerator is a machine that accelerates elementary particles, such as electrons or protons, to very high energies. On a basic level, particle accelerators produce beams of charged particles that can be used for a variety of research purposes.”
Inside the Large Hadron Collider
symmetrymagazine.org/article/inside-the-large-hadron-collider
“The LHC collides two beams of protons at a combined energy of 13 TeV, or 13 trillion electronvolts. An electronvolt is a unit of energy, like a calorie or a joule. Electronvolts are used when to talk about the energy of motion of really small things such as particles and atoms.”
The Supercollider That Never Was
scientificamerican.com/article/the-supercollider-that-never-was
“The Texas-based high-energy accelerator would have easily found the Higgs and been capable of searching for still more evidence of new physics”
--
Seeker+ is your home for deep dives, fun facts, rabbit holes, and more. Join host Julian Huguet as he unapologetically nerds out on the oddball history, astounding science and intriguing future around topics that will make you the smartest person at your next trivia night.
--
Seeker empowers the curious to understand the science shaping our world. We tell award-winning stories about the natural forces and groundbreaking innovations that impact our lives, our planet, and our universe.
Follow us on TikTok: tiktok.com/@seeker
Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/seeker
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/seeker
