CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, based near Geneva, Switzerland, is no stranger to headlines. Its Large Hadron Collider has been the centre of many conspiracy theories; some have accused the organization of opening portals to other dimensions.
However, as intriguing as these statements may sound like something from a science fiction movie, let’s discuss what CERN does and bust these myths.
Understanding CERN’s Main Focus: Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider
The main focus of CERN is to study the particles that make up the universe. Their chief weapon is the Large Hadron Collider, 17 miles long and 574 feet below the Earth’s surface.
LHC collides proton and other particles at near light speed to enable scientists to analyze the energies and particles produced by the collisions. This process has extended confidence that the Higgs boson, a particle important to explaining how matter gains mass, exists.
This is not to suggest that CERN is trying to warp space and time in its experiments; the primary objective is to solve the most significant question: what governs this universe?
However, when discoveries are made that revolutionize the field, people start grumbling about conspiracies and the possibilities of future exploration, such as opening a gate to other dimensions.
Among all sensational theories, one of the most well-known ones is that the LHC can open the gates to another dimension, which can entail extraterrestrial or even demonic creatures in its experiment. This has been fuel to conspiracy theorists who believe in LHC’s power and its capacity to explore the mysteries of particle physics.
Even a Harvard theoretical astrophysicist, Avi Loeb, stated that the LHC could detect and make a path to other dimensions, which is responsible for such oddities as extraterrestrial beings flying through quantum gravity.
According to Loeb’s theory, people exist in three dimensions, and there may be others, perhaps ‘curled’ ones, that are invisible to the naked eye. These dimensions could be reachable by particles with charge densities that are very high or by collision-sort interactions that are intense enough for us to both interact with these dimensions and, indeed, observe them.
Nonetheless, the ideas remain more or less hypothetical and scientifically questionable, and there is no evidence that CERN’s work is somehow related to the opening of actual portals.
The Reality of CERN’s Research: No Evidence of Portals to Another Dimension
Still, there is one thing that most physicists categorically deny – that CERN could or would open doors to other dimensions. Dejan Stojkovic, a professor of physics at the University at Buffalo, argued that building a black hole or wormhole, even at the subatomic level, would need an accelerator much bigger than LHC.
The existing technology cannot be used to accomplish such stunts. In addition, CERN’s activity is limited to triggering particle reactions and equally stressing that they do not plan to alter spacetime topology. CERN’s spokesperson, Sophie Tesauri, also pointed out that the research conducted at CERN is unrelated to astrophysics or events such as solar eclipses.
As much as there are isolated incidents of reports in the media about strange occurrences associated with CERN’s work, there is no evidence that the LHC could open a doorway to another dimension or cause harm. The LHC’s goal remains clear: to solve the problems that will help us learn more about the universe’s composition.
There is also the notion on social media that CERN will open a portal for specific events like the eclipse that happened in April 2024. But again, this is not the truth. The accelerator at CERN started in March, long before the eclipse, and the technology will never be strong enough to open a portal.
It is important to note that, according to theoretical and experimental physics experts, the LHC does not and cannot, under present-day theory or practice, open portals or gates to other dimensions.
The idea of CERN conducting experiments, which are evil and against the laws of physics, is a myth well rooted on social media, even though it is false. It is a good note to remind that in understanding complicated scientific actions, it is necessary to distinguish between scientific facts and fantastic stories.
The Truth Behind CERN’s Work and the Portal Myth
As much as it is fun to imagine that CERN opened other dimensions, all these are science fiction. The work of this organization is based on academic, peer-reviewed research that seeks to answer some of humanity’s most profound questions about the universe.
Even though LHC is one of the most advanced tools in the world, it cannot ‘play’ with reality as some conspiracy theorists like to think. Ultimately, CERN’s endeavor is more a story of one species’ desire to extend its capacity for understanding across the vast and mysterious frontier of the universe than an attempt to open doorways to other dimensions.
Thus, even though the numerous legends about interdimensional doorways might sound great for re-telling to your friends, these are nothing but fairy tales superimposed on the actual science behind the work of CERN.