Let me explain. Einstein found a way to explain the structure of the universe in a beautifully simple way. His now famous formula brought sense, logic and order to our world and the infinite universe within which it exists. "Whenever we embark on the ocean of discovery, the horizon of the unknown advances with us."  While the platform Einstein built gave us the opportunity to gaze at the stars with a few less furrows on our brow, it also brought more questions. Today, more than 96% of the Universe remains inexplicable and unmeasured. The rest is unseen and undetectable - elusive stuff called dark matter and dark energy. We know it is there and we have gloriously ingenious theories for what it might be and how its properties may help explain the greater universe - but we are using the 4% of the universe which we understand, and can actually measure, to do this. To put it simply: The way the Universe behaves suggests that there is a force at work. Something that we as yet cannot see and cannot accurately measure. The scientists that bring order to this remarkable, unseen corner-stone of creation will take their place alongside Einstein. 

The Large Haldron Collider is an attempt to do just this. It is one of the largest and most expensive scientific experiments ever undertaken. More than 10 000 scientists in over 100 countries are collaborating to try and find answers in the experiments it enables. An ultra high-speed computer network links over a thousand scientists around the world to the LHC facility in Europe. Together they work at deciphering the data gathered. The Physics department at UJ is part of this network. A doctorate student from UJ is working on site at the LHC. Not bad.