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James Beacham Delves into Unanswered Questions in His Talk on Physics
Riley von Niessen — January 24, 2017 — Keynote Trends
James Beacham, an experimental particle physicist, focuses on CERN's Large Hadron Collider experiment in his interesting talk on physics for TED.
While working to uncover evidence of new particles, Beacham harnessed a desire to make this genre of physics accessible to everyone, as he found himself so intrigued by the science. He starts out his talk on physics by asking his audience a question, "How do the smallest things in nature, the particles of the quantum world, match up with the largest things in nature -- planets and stars and galaxies held together by gravity?"
He follows this by explaining the fascination he had with uncovering such information, however he found himself at a loss for how to connect everything mathematically. Despite his own frustration with not being able to find exact answers to what he's researched so heavily, Beacham explains that there's a certain beauty to the unanswered, in that mystery enhances its draw and forces people to think in new ways. In order to get more information, more people need to be added to the discussion so that scientists can get "fresh eyes on these century-old problems."
He finishes this thought by saying, "But someone -- maybe she's in school right now, maybe she's not even born yet -- could eventually guide us to see physics in a completely new way, and to point out that perhaps we're just asking the wrong questions. Which would not be the end of physics, but a novel beginning."
While working to uncover evidence of new particles, Beacham harnessed a desire to make this genre of physics accessible to everyone, as he found himself so intrigued by the science. He starts out his talk on physics by asking his audience a question, "How do the smallest things in nature, the particles of the quantum world, match up with the largest things in nature -- planets and stars and galaxies held together by gravity?"
He follows this by explaining the fascination he had with uncovering such information, however he found himself at a loss for how to connect everything mathematically. Despite his own frustration with not being able to find exact answers to what he's researched so heavily, Beacham explains that there's a certain beauty to the unanswered, in that mystery enhances its draw and forces people to think in new ways. In order to get more information, more people need to be added to the discussion so that scientists can get "fresh eyes on these century-old problems."
He finishes this thought by saying, "But someone -- maybe she's in school right now, maybe she's not even born yet -- could eventually guide us to see physics in a completely new way, and to point out that perhaps we're just asking the wrong questions. Which would not be the end of physics, but a novel beginning."
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