PHYSICS, PLAIN and SIMPLE
Septuagenarian CERN scientist takes to storytelling to explain the universe in everyday words, Li Yingxue reports.
Qian's team contributed through the CMS collaboration with over 2,000 members from hundreds of institutes in over 30 countries, which — alongside the ATLAS Collaboration — helped make the discovery possible. "I feel incredibly fortunate to have been part of such a major scientific journey," he says. "This kind of science only works through global cooperation that is across nationalities, languages, religions and genders."
Such cooperation is vital in a field that demands decades of effort. "But we still push forward, to explore the unknown. In this field, it often feels like there's always more to do."
Now, CERN is preparing for the next era: a next-generation collider planned for completion by 2070. "If I joined now, I'd be 120 when it's finished," Qian says. "We may never see it completed, but that doesn't mean we stop trying."
Even today, scientists only understand 5 percent of the universe. "The remaining 95 percent, dark matter and dark energy included, is still a mystery," he says. "What we don't know far exceeds what we do. That's what keeps us going."
But his message goes beyond physics. "Every field has its own unknowns," Qian says. "Find your passion. Follow your curiosity and use it to make the world a little better."
Because, he adds, "Human curiosity will always drive us forward."
