Finding the Higgs Boson was the easy part.
The Large Hadron Collider didn't call it quits when it confirmed the existence of the long-sought-after Higgs in 2012. CERN is about to fire up the LHC for the second round of experiments, and the team is ready to go for the really deep theoretical physics stuff. You know, little things like supersymmetry, dark matter, and other dimensions.
LHC had been scheduled to restart in March, but a scrap of metal stuck in the collider caused a short circuit. So the people at CERN did what any scientists working in a massive collider would do: They shot the scrap with 400 amps until the fragment disintegrated. It's amazing that one scrap of metal can halt a 17-mile particle collider, but it's also a testament to how ultimately sensitive and fragile the world's most advanced scientific equipment can be.
With that problem solved, LHC is ready to fire. It will take a few months for the big ring to warm up, and CERN says the first new experiments can begin in June. After that? It's time to dig deep into the mysteries of our universe – and just maybe find evidence of others.