Large numbers of scientists (a small fraction of the world's population) will be waiting impatiently for the results when the new collider at Cern starts up. What they will see will be guaranteed to be incredible. Whatever comes out is going to set the direction for basic atomic research for the foreseeable future. I am not one who is confident of finding answers to 'life, the universe and everything,' though. My best guess is that the answers they find will spawn more questions at an even more fundamental level.
But what happens if there turns out to be nothing?
That would be, to me, by far the most interesting outcome. That would mean we've been thinking about these things in a completely wrong way for a very long time.
Of course, try and explain the excitement of a null result to a politician who has sunk millions into this....
New York Times:
A Giant Takes on Physics’ Biggest Questions
About Me
- Greyoke
- I'm an Associate Professor in the Sciences at a medium sized state college.