Watch

How the “God Particle” Inspired this Comic Author

Creator:
Published:
April 8, 2024
April 20, 2022
Watch how the "God particle" inspired this comic/sci-fi author.

Mark Rodgers is a science fiction author who co-wrote a comic called “The Blessed Machine” with the late Jesse Hamm. Intrigued by the science behind particle accelerators, they used colliders as inspiration for a comic that tells a story of a world where the Earth was made inhabitable because of a scientific experiment with the Higgs boson — aka the “God particle.”

“What can we know to be true?" Mark ponders. "Is it only scientific knowledge? And are we dependent upon science itself to understand that truth? Or is there a truth that lives outside of what science can tell us?”

Video Transcript

Meet Mark Rodgers, science fiction author. Images from his comic book, “The Blessed Machine,” flash across the screen.

Mark: So what I wanted to explore was to what extent this kind of utopian instinct we have, or this instinct that science will be our savior — that instinct actually became are captor.

Mark began researching large hadron colliders. CERN has the world’s largest particle accelerator. Images from the collider appear on screen, showing long tunnels underground filled with pipes and equipment.

Now that the CERN collider is operative, they do discover that it is true that small little black holes are literally created that exist just for a nanosecond.

Jacob is a boy drawn as a character in his comic book. He is speaking with his mother. Voice actors read the dialogue.

Jacob: Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom!

Mom: What is it, Jacob?

Jacob: Did people live up there where there were gardens and the sun?

Mom: Everyone lived up there a long time ago. But then some scientists tried to do a thing, a big, very important thing.

Mark: A lot of the things that you think about, you know, like some sort of a comet hits the surface or climate change — well, those all have been explored before. So I wanted to explore something where science itself was the inciting incident.

A scene from the comic appears again, showing a leader speaking in front of a large crowd. 

Announcer: We have invited you to the Hadron Collider, to be a part of history and witness Higgs fission, the first splitting of the Higgs boson particle. Here in a live feed, we can see the collider less than 50 yards from this very room. To be sure, the Higgs boson isn't a distinct particle. It's more like the space between particles. Its fission could create a field of tiny black holes, which would open up a new frontier in technological application. Any second now.

Audience: Oh!

Announcer: There appears…

The comic shows a large explosion. 

Mark: In the effort to break apart the Higgs boson, to kind of open that up, that we actually would be opening up an area that should stay unknowable. The supercollider is kind of pure science research in its most extreme form. And the purpose is to, like a collider, it's to have elements move at such speeds that they actually split, or you can measure smaller and smaller elements to understand some of the mysteries of the universe.

One of the elements the CERN collider was expected to discover is the Higgs boson, the “God particle.” It's the thing that connects matter together and actually gives other matter gravity. Without the Higgs boson, theoretically all matter would just fly apart and there'd be no cohesion, right? It'd become pure chaos.

Mom from the comic: The black holes disappeared eventually, but the crater they left was so big, it changed the weather all over the world. People couldn't live on the surface anymore.

The comic shows the boy staring in disbelief. 

Mark: Now what can we know to be true? Is it only the scientific knowledge? And are we dependent upon science itself to understand that truth? Or is there a truth that lives outside of what science can tell us?

Creators:
Grotto
Published:
April 8, 2024
April 20, 2022
On a related note...
Last-Minute Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

Last-Minute Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

Grotto

Why I'm Catholic: I'm Not Alone

Why I'm Catholic: I'm Not Alone

Grotto

The Feast of the Annunciation Spotify Playlist | #GrottoMusic

The Feast of the Annunciation Spotify Playlist | #GrottoMusic

Grotto

3 Plays to Get Your Super Bowl Party to the End Zone

3 Plays to Get Your Super Bowl Party to the End Zone

Josh Flynt

"Radical Hospitality"

"Radical Hospitality"

Chris La Tray

From Oil and Gas to Renewable Energy: A Story of Calling

From Oil and Gas to Renewable Energy: A Story of Calling

Grotto

What Just Mercy Teaches Us About Healing Wrongs

What Just Mercy Teaches Us About Healing Wrongs

Mary Cunningham

How I Found the True Meaning of 'Play'

How I Found the True Meaning of 'Play'

Ben Wilson

This Startup is Redesigning the Bible

This Startup is Redesigning the Bible

Grotto

The Fearlessness of St. Oscar Romero | #GrottoMusic

The Fearlessness of St. Oscar Romero | #GrottoMusic

Grotto

Archeologist Works to Save Sites from California Wildfires

Archeologist Works to Save Sites from California Wildfires

Grotto

How I Decided to Stay Home with My Kids

How I Decided to Stay Home with My Kids

Mary Ann Wilson

Without My Daughter, I'd Be a Partial Human

Without My Daughter, I'd Be a Partial Human

Patrick Tomassi

What the **** Lord? And Other Prayers

What the **** Lord? And Other Prayers

Ricky McRoskey

Summer Party Beats | #GrottoMusic

Summer Party Beats | #GrottoMusic

Grotto

What I Believe About the Things I Tell Myself

What I Believe About the Things I Tell Myself

Anna White

Grotto’s Travel Guide to the Twin Cities

Grotto’s Travel Guide to the Twin Cities

Andrew Mentock

Looking Back on 2020, Here's What I'd Say to Myself in 2019

Looking Back on 2020, Here's What I'd Say to Myself in 2019

Laura Kelly Fanucci

This Poet is Fighting Injustice with Creativity

This Poet is Fighting Injustice with Creativity

Grotto

Want to Live More Intentionally? Channel Your Inner Monk

Want to Live More Intentionally? Channel Your Inner Monk

Isaac Huss

newsletter

We’d love to be pals.

Sign up for our newsletter, and we’ll meet you in your inbox each week.