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Are Physicists Ready To Give Up The Chase For SUSY?

The Large Hadron Collider's ATLAS detector under construction in 2005. ATLAS is one of the tools physicists are using to try and understand how the universe works. Maximilien Brice/CERN hide caption

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Maximilien Brice/CERN

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Are Physicists Ready To Give Up The Chase For SUSY?

It's been four decades since the idea of supersymmetry was proposed as a better way to explain the universe. The problem is, says commentator Marcelo Gleiser, that we haven't been able to prove it.

Imperfection Makes The Universe Beautiful

High-energy physics in action: an image of an event in CERN's CMS detector during the search for the Higgs boson. CERN hide caption

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CERN

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Imperfection Makes The Universe Beautiful

It's time to reconsider the grand quest for "unification" in modern physics, says commentator Marcelo Gleiser. Our unrelenting search for symmetry and perfection in the natural world leaves us blind to data that seems to depict an imperfect and asymmetric Universe.

When Is A Theory Wrong?

The Universe of Particles exhibition at CERN in 2011. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

When Is A Theory Wrong?

Theories are the life-blood of science; but ruling them out may be harder than you think. And letting a cherished model fall on the trash heap of history is even harder, yet. Take "supersymmetry" from the world of particle physics, for example. When might we see its demise or its vindication?