Magnetic attraction

More action from the intelligensia in Europa...look what's been dropped into place to start cranking out the mysterious reactions: a MAGNET ... a very large magnet. Into the ground at CERN it goes.

Now they've been carefully planning this thing for a long time. I remember first reading about this Large Hadron Collider many years ago in either Omni (pre-Discover mag takeover) or Discover at least a decade ago. Perhaps it was just the drawing board stuff at the time -- but these folks are expecting big things (figuratively and literally) from these experiments. I sure hope they find some of the answers.

The most curious scent I hope they pick up on is that of antimatter -- and by association antigravity (since gravity pulls only on matter...you get the picture). To me it's the holy grail of new advancement: all new energy and travel possibilities would be facing a dramatic shift. Since Ben Franklin's experiments with electricity and then Tesla and Edison each taking it to new modes of operation, we haven't had a real lifestyle-altering thing happen during my lifetime. (Some might say computers...they've been around my whole life...they have taken different forms and done more things: replaced typewriters & 10-keys, some of the U.S. mail & many editing bays...but they're not on the scale of electricity itself.)

You can point to nuclear power sure...it complicated things: killed loads of people in Japan and around Chernobyl. But the day-to-day life enriching stuff -- not really. If you were in the energy racket, maybe. But your average Joe didn't really change dramatically due to our nuclear discoveries. Perhaps he changed during the cold war and built an underground bunker but real substantial life change -- like the impact electricty had -- hasn't graced him for decades.

Perhaps this huge magnet will be part of the next great discovery. We could use one. I've read some nihilist reports lately where certain scientific smart folk think great discoveries are a thing of the past. Humbug. It doesn't take blind faith to believe in great things around the corner. Mother Nature doles them out slowly...doesn't want us to get ahead of ourselves since we tend to do that.

Great things are afoot. The European think tank is expecting wonderful finds. It takes a much more established set of thinkers -- like those in Europe -- to be patient in finding the next wonders in today's fast-paced world. Hercule Poirot always had the patience to solve the mystery...hopefully, so will these scientists.