[bittermang]

That sure was a lot of words to once again raise the question, "Why hasn't the LHC found what we thought it would?" And I never did get to the point, if there even was any, that the headline about squished rocks led me to click.

The article kind of answers itself, when it talks about dark matter. It's a placeholder for what we don't know. We work off what we do know, and have confirmed through scientific rigor. From this, we have math models that show us where we think things should be. But we haven't found them. And we keep beating our heads into the wall that the LHC hasn't found them, so who do we blame?

I just feel like it doesn't work that way. Eureka moments and scientific breakthroughs have never been a product of budget and man hours. You have a question, you do your research, you come with your answer based on your information, and you test. And with a machine the scale of the LHC, tests aren't as simple as a baking soda volcano in your kitchen. And with the kind of questions we're asking, maybe the LHC isn't the machine that will find the answers, no matter how many people we throw at it and particles we shoot through it.

So, from my (completely amateur and unqualified) understanding, either the question we're asking is wrong, the methods and devices of the test are flawed, or the hypothesis itself is wrong and no one wants to accept what that means to particle physics.

But even if the only thing that comes out of the LHC is confirmation and understanding of the Higgs, that's more than plenty enough to satisfy me. I'm just so exhausted by all of these articles railing against the LHC. I get it, you're mad at progress in the scientific community, but don't take it out on the equipment. It's done more than well enough, so far.

[dang]

The article is quite informative about the ongoing work on fossils and (unless I missed it?) doesn't mention the LHC, so this comment seems somehow off topic.

Edit: ah, I think I see. There was an article about the LHC underneath the fossil article on the originally submitted page (http://nautil.us/blog/worlds-oldest-fossils-now-appear-to-be...).

[bittermang]

Well that explains it. I wanted exciting new news in the world of squashed rocks, dammit.