because everyone loves the large hadron collider

[rm]

I'll just link you to this gem from tanuki_green:
http://tanuki-green.livejournal.com/299259.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/science/space/13lhc.html (and hey, in the NYT)

Short version? Two camps of physicists hate each other. So one camp theorizes as a theoretical actual contribution to the academic work that the reason the LHC is broken is because the universe's powers that be hate the other camp of physicists and sent the particle the LHC is trying to discover into the future so that the project will fail.

Yeah, really.

Stuff this cracktacular makes me want to love physics.

Comments

[vegablack62.livejournal.com]

So is this theory a joke or what? I'm so confused.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I'm unclear as well. I suspect that may be the point. I _really_ don't get physics.

[vegablack62.livejournal.com]

I guess it matters wether they think the Universe is sentient.

[drfardook.livejournal.com]

As former physics student, they're totally serious and totally not. Concurrently. Its all the courses in quantum mechanics.

Yeah, they're totally nuts.

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

It's Schroedinger's Physics? *is confused*

[sethg]

I vote "joke". The physicists know that the mainstream press is so mystified by high-energy physics that any sufficiently deadpan bullshit delivered by a sufficiently impressive Ph.D. will get printed as fact.

There is precedent, sorta.

[morinon.livejournal.com]

It's a bit of both. The LHC is trying to find a scalar boson that should exist according to current field theory. Current field theory could be wrong. Every scientific attempt to find the Higgs boson has been 'cursed', so this is mostly a joke. Except that time travel is completely legitimate in physics. And the creation of this boson could result in it not being detected, and sending something back in time to prevent its proper detection.

Welcome to physics, where if your head hasn't broken yet, you don't belong here.