CERN is in need of reinvestment to stay at the forefront of particle physics research. By the late 2030s, the Large Hadron Collider is expected to reach the end of its useful life and CERN requires $17 billion to build a larger accelerator, the Future Circular Collider. However, this funding has not yet been secured and China has proposed its own collider. The donation from the Schmidts may signal a shift towards private-sector funding for such projects.
Key takeaways:
- Former Google chief Eric Schmidt has donated $48 million to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) to develop AI algorithms for analyzing data from the Large Hadron Collider.
- CERN needs to reinvest to stay at the forefront of particle physics research, with the Large Hadron Collider expected to reach the end of its useful life by the late 2030s.
- CERN requires $17 billion to fund the construction of a new accelerator, the Future Circular Collider, but the funding has not yet been secured.
- The donation from Eric Schmidt represents a first in private-sector funding for pure research at CERN, potentially indicating a new approach to funding future projects.