What’s Happened Since CERN Fired Up the LHC Again?
The Large Hadron Collider was fired up for the third time, as scientists search for “new physics.”
Run by the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland. The purpose of the collider is to allow scientists to test theories and predictions of particle physics and find new physics.
Completed in 2008, the Large Hadron Collider has had two “operational runs,” from 2009 to 2013, and 2015 to 2018. Now this month, after a long hiatus to improve and upgrade data collection and detectors, the Large Hadron Collider is at it again.
As the journal Nature reports, the first two operational runs tested and explored “known physics.” The discovery of the Higgs Boson particle, or “god particle,” in 2012 was part of that work and reaffirmed current models of how the universe works. This time they are looking for new physics and unknowns such as dark matter.
So, how does it work? They accelerate particles to near the speed of light in a 17-mile underground circular tube, smash them together, and see the results. Now, with the new detectors, they should be able to comb through data with more accuracy.
As Dr. Sarah Demers, a physics professor at Yale University, who is working on the third run, told National Public Radio, “There has to be more out there because we can’t explain so many of the things that are around us.”
“There’s something really big missing, and by really big, we’re talking about 96-percent-of-the-universe really big,” she said.
But some people are worried about what is going on at CERN. Social media has been exploding with theories, often with a version of the claim, “They are hiding this from you.”
One of the most popular theories is that CERN is using the Large Hadron Collider to open “portals” to another plane, a parallel universe, or some sort of stargate. Or CERN is trying to create black holes. This stems from CERN saying it might be possible to create tiny black holes but tried to clear that up with this statement: “The LHC will not generate black holes in the cosmological sense. However, some theories suggest that the formation of tiny, ‘quantum’ black holes may be possible. The observation of such an event would be thrilling in terms of our understanding of the Universe; and would be perfectly safe.
CERN has also announced they’ve had a smooth start to their experiments so far. This third run is planned to last four years, with the fourth run scheduled to start in 2030.
The Reporter Who May Have Learned the Truth Behind JFK's Assassination
Few historical events have sparked as many conspiracy theories as the JFK assassination, but when one looks at the evidence regarding the Kennedys’ history with the country’s organized crime families, it’s hard not to see the mob’s culpability. At least that’s what best-selling author, researcher, and former criminal defense attorney Mark Shaw has detailed over the course of several books, including his most recent titled, “The Reporter Who Knew Too Much.”
The reporter Shaw is referring to is Dorothy Kilgallen, arguably the most famous female journalist of her era, known for a syndicated column in the New York Journal-American, a nationally broadcast CBS radio show listened to by millions, and her role as star panelist of the celebrity game show “What’s My Line?”
Kilgallen met an untimely death in 1965 while investigating a strong suspicion that members of the New Orleans mafia may have been behind JFK’s assassination. Fanning the flames of conspiracy further, Kilgallen’s reported cause of death — acute ethanol and barbiturate intoxication — was uncannily similar to that of Marilyn Monroe, whose alleged suicide has been questioned interminably.
According to Shaw’s research, Kilgallen was one of few people who connected Jack Ruby — the Dallas nightclub owner who murdered Lee Harvey Oswald — to Carlos Marcello, the “Godfather” of the New Orleans mafia. Knowing the Kennedy family’s complicated ties to various mob syndicates, Oswald’s history of living in New Orleans, and Ruby’s affiliations with the mob, Kilgallen followed her instinct. She also happened to be the sole reporter to interview Ruby at his trial, out of hundreds who were present.
In 1965, Kilgallen embarked on an investigative trip to Louisiana to test her hypothesis, bringing only a hairstylist along with her. However, she quickly told him to return to New York and not mention to anyone she was down there. Shaw says he believes she uncovered some damning evidence implicating Marcello’s involvement in the Kennedy assassination, which she quickly realized could cost her her life. Kilgallen returned to New York and planned a return trip to New Orleans to meet a confidential informant, but was found dead just weeks before she was supposed to leave. She described her plans to meet the informant on her second trip as “cloak and daggerish.”
The idea that the mafia was behind Kennedy’s assassination isn’t a new one. It was well known that the family’s patriarch, Joe P. Kennedy Sr. had a convoluted history with a number of well-known figures in organized crime. Kennedy Sr.’s business dealings in Chicago led to his acquaintance with famous mob boss Frank Costello, who claimed the two were involved in bootlegging operations during prohibition. Though Kennedy Sr. denied this connection, he continued to build his vast fortune through exclusive distribution rights for world-renowned brands of scotch and other imported liquors when prohibition ended.
