CERN

[[File:CERN1999.png|thumb|right|165px|CERN member states. Challenge: name all member countries using only this map.]]{{Physics}}
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'''CERN''', or the '''[[Europe]]an Organization for Nuclear Research''', is located near the city of Geneva, [[Switzerland]].

CERN is among the world's largest [[subatomic particle|particle physics]] laboratories, currently employing approximately 2500 staffers.<ref>[https://hr-info.web.cern.ch/hr-info/stats/persstats/CERNPersonnelStatistics2007.pdf CERN Personnel Statistics 2007]</ref>

It is also where Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web (which should not be confused with the [[Internet]]). Thanks, Tim!

==Activities==
As of 2010, scientists at CERN are currently using the [[Large Hadron Collider]] to accelerate and collide particles, slowly pumping the power level up until it reached a massive 13TeV which happened in 2015.<ref>[https://home.cern/about/engineering/restarting-lhc-why-13-tev Restarting the LHC: Why 13 Tev?] CERN</ref>

==Conspiracy nuts and nonsense==
[[File:CERN shiva.jpg|thumb|left|Not [[Yaweh|the wrathful tyrant of the desert]] — therefore, a sign of evil!]]

As a European scientific organization operating a lot of weird machinery, CERN is sometimes accused of nefarious activities by [[conspiracy theorist]]s.

For example, a statue of the [[Hindu]] [[god]] Shiva as Nataraja was presented as a gift from [[India]] in 2004,<ref>[http://www.fritjofcapra.net/shiva.html Shiva's Cosmic Dance at CERN]</ref> and consequently was used as evidence for various batty claims — such as CERN trying to resurrect ancient gods, and no, that's ''not'' a metaphor.<ref>[http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1139.htm CERN Attempt To ‘Talk To God’ Nails Heart Of Earth… Again], [[Sorcha Faal]]</ref>

It ''is'', however, both a decent idea for a movie and what appears to be an accidental nod to [[Nietzsche]]'s notorious statement that God (or the gods) are dead in the first place. Why human involvement via CERN would be required to resurrect a deity, when the same [[omnipotent]] divine has allegedly [[Resurrection_of_Jesus|already pulled that exact stunt on its own]] remains to be explained by the kooks in question.

A cataclysmic shift of Earth's magnetic poles resulting from the activation of the hadron collider was the premise behind the Spanish TV show "El Barco" ("The Ship").<ref>https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1788634/episodes?season=1</ref>

==See also==
*[[Speed of light#Neutrino observations in 2011|Neutrino observations in 2011]] — Controversial observations at CERN that seemed to show neutrinos [[Faster-than-light travel|travelling faster than light]]. To the surprise of no physicist in the world, these preliminary findings [[Occam's_razor|turned out to be due to measurement error]], ''not'' a [[Miracle|suspension of the laws of nature]].
*[[Brian Cox]]

==External links==
*[http://public.web.cern.ch/public/ Official website]

==References==
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[[Category:Conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:Educational institutions]]
[[Category:Europe]]
[[Category:Organizations]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Science]]

Categories: Conspiracy theories, Educational institutions, Europe, Organizations, Physics, Science