The Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider accelerates protons to 99.9999991% the speed of light and smashes them together to recreate conditions from a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. CERN's 27-kilometer ring confirmed the Higgs boson in 2012, a particle theorized in 1964 that explains mass, using 10,000 scientists from 100 countries and costing $13.25 billion. This achievement is 50% more energetic than any previous particle collider, cheaper than the typical rival supercollider per unit energy. When turned on, some feared it would create a black hole that would swallow Earth; it didn't, but it advanced our understanding of the universe's origins more than #1's CRISPR ever could in physics.