CERN, The Large Hadron Rap and Hip Hop

One thing in life I love to explore but have trouble getting people to relate to is particle physics (proven by my atomic inspired logo). It's not because I'm a scientist or techno elitist, I'm not, but I find the subject fascinating. Discovery in this field tells us more about how the universe was made and allows one to have a deeper appreciation for the world we live in and the one who created it.

So news of this weeks activities at CERN, the particle collider located in Switzerland and France got me all excited. Particle colliders are like time machines. The force of particles running into each other at speeds close to light speed allow scientists to see how matter behaved close to the Big Bang. The faster the speeds, the harder the collision the closer to the time of the Big Bang. The upgrades at CERN that are now being completed will give scientists more of an opportunity to discover particles missing from current theories of the Universe which will have an impact in science in the years to come.

During my news scanning on this topic I ran across a YouTube video which provoked some thought. It's called the Large Hadron Rap named after the Large Hadron collider at CERN and was created by alpinekat. Apprently, alpinekat is a Michigan State scientist who works at CERN but has a flair for Hip Hop. Her rap song is about the facility and partical physics in general. In the past, Hip Hop was not something I was a fan of but she made me one with this song. It's catchy enough for my 10 year-old son who liked it and is no fan of Hip Hop either (he's into Guitar Hero Aerosmith these days). And since the video runs the lyrics along allows kids to read the story of what's going on in particle physics today. What better way to engage future scientists and let people know more about discovery which is normally explained in ways that they cannot comprehend. Bravo to aplinekat!

My final thought is on Hip Hop itself. All of the anger and negativity in the 'art' form repel people like me and my son. But clearly it is an effective form of communication and one that can be used to good end. Now I don't expect to see artickat on top of the Hip Hop charts anytime soon. However, it would be great to follow he lead and take anger out of it and turn it into something positive rather than something that is a release for some and degrading for too many more.

More on particle physics in the future.