ScienceJuly 8, 2026
collider
/kəˈlaɪdər/
Definition
A large-scale particle accelerator designed to smash subatomic particles together at extremely high speeds to study fundamental physical interactions.
Etymology
Derived from the English verb 'collide,' which traces back to the Latin 'collidere,' meaning to strike together. It gained its specialized scientific meaning in the 20th century to describe machines that force particles into high-energy collisions.
In the news
In the article, the term refers to experimental facilities like the Large Hadron Collider, which generate vast amounts of data that physicists use to search for new discoveries in particle physics.
Jesse Thaler named director of the Laboratory for Nuclear Science
Read the full article ↗MIT News