#92 – Harry Cliff: Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

Harry Cliff is a particle physicist at the University of Cambridge working on the Large Hadron Collider beauty experiment that specializes in searching for hints of new particles and forces by studying a type of particle called the “beauty quark”, or “b quark”. In this way, he is part of the group of physicists who are searching answers to some of the biggest questions in modern physics. He is also an exceptional communicator of science with some of the clearest and most captivating explanations of basic concepts in particle physics I’ve ever heard.

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EPISODE LINKS:
Harry’s Website: https://www.harrycliff.co.uk/
Harry’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/harryvcliff
Beyond the Higgs Lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edvdzh9Pggg
Harry’s stand-up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnediKM_Sts

This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast. If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/ai or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon.

Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

OUTLINE:
00:00 – Introduction
03:51 – LHC and particle physics
13:55 – History of particle physics
38:59 – Higgs particle
57:55 – Unknowns yet to be discovered
59:48 – Beauty quarks
1:07:38 – Matter and antimatter
1:10:22 – Human side of the Large Hadron Collider
1:17:27 – Future of large particle colliders
1:24:09 – Data science with particle physics
1:27:17 – Science communication
1:33:36 – Most beautiful idea in physics