Eli5: What advancements have been made as a direct result of the use of particle accelerators?

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I recently saw a Cleo Abrams video about particle accelerators and the lead scientist said that they use particle accelerators to create the building blocks for future innovations.

I’m sure advancements have been made only because particle accelerators exist but I don’t know any. Can someone highlight a direct influence particle accelerators have on our daily lives?

In: Physics

19 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

So to get to the point of accelerating particles and analyzing them, we had to do a lot of research and development on the infrastructure supporting the operation of the accelerator.

The detectors they used required innovation in semiconductor technologies. That gets passed down to consumers.

They needed a robust and powerful computer system to analyze a lot of data. That needed R&D. That R&D can then be applied to other industries to build a similar computer system that can then be used for consumer services.

Construction of the particle accelerators required R&D for better construction techniques and materials. That development can then be used for building bridges, roads, and buildings.

So yeah, identifying particles from a particle accelerators or even looking back on stars with the JWST may not directly provide benefits to humanity, but the technologies required to get there is beneficial to humanity.

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