The Large Hadron Collider, a giant atom smasher located under the Franco-Swiss border, has brought science in to the mainstream, with everyone seeming to be interested in the results achieved by the experiments taking place there. But, Large Hadron Collider, while factually correct, is hardly a sexy name. So, does the LHC need something punchier?

I’m a keen amateur when it comes to matters of science. I’ve read Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History Of Time, although it took me about three months, and I’ve read Bill Bryson’s A Short History Of Nearly Everything. I found them both intriguing and mightily interesting. But they are books written specially for us mere mortals who don’t understand the difference between a quark and a lepton.

The Large Hadron Collider is a particle accelerator that is likely to be very important in either proving or disproving various theories that scientists have come to regard as set in stone. But many of the theories being expounded and experiments taking place are beyond us plebs, and are really only for those people who hold a degree in quantum physics.

If us mortals are going to get involved in the complicated processes involved, then there’s only one thing for it: a name change from Large Hadron Collider to something we can all get behind.

To that end, The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) has launched a competition to find a new name for the machine under Geneva. According to The Telegraph, the organisation is offering a $1000 prize for “the best alternative name … which most effectively captures the imagination of both young and old, whether interested in science, or merely sceptical onlookers.”

It seems that while most of us who aren’t totally au fait with the world of sub-atomic particle physics are having trouble understanding what the LHC is built to do, aside from helping us understand the nature of the universe, some are even having trouble spelling Large Hadron Collider correctly. The New York Times even referred to the LHC as “The Large Hardon Collider”.

Some are claiming that the RSC has only launched the competition to try and get associated with the huge amount of publicity that the LHC is currently managing to obtain. But, regardless of the reasons, I think the idea is a good one. Large Hadron Collider is a name desperately in need of something a little punchier. It’s the only way to really get the general population interested in the important scientific experiments being carried out.

Suggestions welcomed…

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Entry was posted on Sunday, September 14th, 2008 at 6:34 pm under Opinion, Science and technology.

Read more entries by Dave Parrack.
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