All language subtitles for Ancient.Aliens.S06E17.The.God.Particle.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.HEVC-Saon_track5_[eng]

NARRATOR: It has been called
the key to the universe.

MARIA SPIROPULU: We are just
discovering something which is

completely blowing our minds.

NARRATOR: A gateway
to new technologies.

JOHN BRANDENBURG: We're going
into a vast unknown territory,

who knows what we'll find.

NARRATOR: And possibly,
the most important

scientific breakthrough
of all time.

WILLIAM HENRY: It's
going to open up

new layers of our
understanding of reality.

NARRATOR: Could the
so-called god particle really

reveal the truth
about our origins?

And might clues to
its significance

have been left here on
Earth thousands of years

ago by extraterrestrial beings?

DAVID CHILDRESS: We can use
this to understand our place

in the universe and even
to teleport and travel

through time and space.

NARRATOR: Millions of
people around the world

believe we have been
visited in the past

by extraterrestrial beings.

What if it were true?

Did ancient aliens really
help to shape our history.

And if so, might there be
evidence in the discovery

of the god particle?

Every religion seeks to
answer the same question--

where did we come from?

Philosophers, sages, and priests
have pondered our origins

since the dawn of
humanity, while science

has looked for evidence
that might one day give us

the answer.

Both religion and science
approach the idea of where we

come from with a set of rules.

Science has the
scientific method.

Religion comes at
the same question

with its own set of
rules, a presupposition

that a god or gods exist.

Religion gives us a
certain view of reality.

Science gives us a
different view of reality.

And yes, there are points at
which these two worldviews are

compatible.

Science and religion
at their best moments

are searching for truth
as its philosophy,

especially at moments like
the moment of the Big Bang--

the moment of
creation, the Genesis.

These streams of
thought converge.

In effect, science and
religion and philosophy

are all searching
for the same thing.

It reminds me of
Einstein's question--

what were God's thoughts when
he was making the universe?

NARRATOR: If science and
religion are both searching

for answers to the
same questions,

then why do we so often
consider them at odds?

Is it necessary that
one negates the other?

Science speaks
nothing whatsoever

about the existence of God.

And because of that there's
still an opening for God,

there's still a possibility
that God stands behind all this,

that God is responsible
for the Big Bang.

JONATHAN YOUNG: In
the ancient world,

the philosophers
were the scientists.

There was no clear distinction
between hard research

and theological speculations.

All serious thinkers
were trying to figure out

the nature of reality.

Now, we consider these
to be separate pursuits.

RABBI ARIEL BAR
TZADOK: If we truly

want to bridge the gap
between religion and science,

we must recognize
that religion needs

to become more scientific.

Science would benefit by
becoming a wee bit more

religious, not in the
mythological sense

but by looking back
to the religious,

and quote, what they
interpret to be myth, and say,

if there's any legitimacy or
reality to this, what is it?

Let's explore.

Let's discover.

Let's find out
what the truth is.

NARRATOR: As our technology
advances at an increasingly

rapid rate, are we getting
closer to discovering

our true origins

and finding out
whether or not we really

are alone in the universe?

Some believe a recent
scientific breakthrough

may prove to be a
giant leap forward

in our search for the truth.

Geneva, Switzerland.

Here, buried over 300
feet beneath the earth,

and covering a remarkable
17-mile expanse,

is the largest and most
complex machine ever created--

the Large Hadron
Collider or LHC.

Smashing tiny protons together
at speeds of nearly 670 million

miles per hour, the LHC
creates such intense energy

that some people are
afraid it could actually

create a black hole and
swallow up the entire Earth.

The Large Hadron
Collider is a real triumph

of human civilization.

It's easily the most
complicated and powerful device

that the human beings
have ever built.

You're actually firing two
protons into each other

and having them collide with
an enormous release of energy,

recreating conditions in a very
small area similar to the Big Bang

in its very
earliest instant.

It is a bit like going back
in time towards the Big Bang

or the universe, getting
to the point in the history

of the universe where the
energies were that high.

NARRATOR: On July
4th 2012, thousands

crowded outside an auditorium
at the European Organization

for Nuclear Research, or
CERN, to hear the announcement

of the LHC's first
major finding.

Streaming the event
live across the world,

scientists prepared to
reveal a discovery that

could solve a decades old
mystery about the nature

of our universe.

The atmosphere in the
room was incredible.

It was not like a normal
physics symposium or seminar.

It was truly something of
completely different magnitude,

which was going to be
announced, that it is completely

extraordinary, which it was.

As a layman, I would now
say I think we have it.

NARRATOR: What the scientists
at CERN had discovered

was a tiny bit of matter that
some call the god particle.

WILLIAM HENRY: Scientists
around the world

celebrated the discovery
of the god particle

as a milestone in
human knowledge,

and thought that
it's going to open up

new layers of our
understanding of reality.

NARRATOR: But just what is
the so-called god particle?

And what is it telling
us about the universe?

Known in the scientific
community as the Higgs boson,

the particle was first theorized
by physicist Peter Higgs

in 1964.

Its discovery confirms the
existence of an invisible force

throughout the universe,
known as the Higgs field.

Scientists believe
when particles interact

with this field, they
acquire mass which slows them

down and allows them to
form matter such as planets

and stars.

The image that's often
used is ping pong balls

moving through sand
or sugar, sometimes

they're pushed down
real deep, sometimes

they're on top of the sand.

If you're on top, you
move around quickly.

If you're deep in,
you move slowly.

And that interaction with
this other Higgs particle

is what gives other
particles their mass.

You really can't over
emphasize the importance

of finally saying there
is a Higgs particle

and that we really are
on the right track.

JOHN BRANDENBURG:
There's great excitement

in the scientific community
because the Higgs field

permeates all of space time.

It's possible, theoretically,
to effectively switch off

the mass of particles and
achieve near lightspeed

very easily.

This could open up not only
the planets but the stars

to human exploration.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: Whether
it's through science, religion,

philosophy, or the
ancient astronaut theory,

the fact is we are all seeking
answers to the same questions--

who are we?

Where did we come from?

And ultimately,
where are we going?

And so we celebrate a discovery
like the Higgs boson or god

particle because it brings us
that much closer to answering

the questions that
have fascinated

humanity for thousands of years.

NARRATOR: Scientists
believe that the discovery

of this tiny particle could
represent a quantum leap

in our understanding
of the universe.

Some have even proposed
that it could open

the door to
anti-gravity technology,

travel at the speed of light,
and the creation of wormholes.

However, ancient
astronaut theorists

proposed that the god particle
is not a new discovery

but rather a rediscovery.

Chandigarh, India.

This thriving city at the
foot of the towering Himalayas

is the capital of
India's Punjab state.

It was in this region
of Northwest India

that scholars believe a
series of religious texts

called the Vedas were compiled
from oral stories that had been

passed down for centuries.

SUBHASH KAK: The
Vedas, according

to the Indian tradition
itself, were put together

in the final form
about 5,000 years ago.

By these hymns had
been circulating

in the Indian region
for a long time.

We do know that not a single
letter of the four Vedas

has changed unlike any
other texts in the world.

So there was a belief
that the text of the Vedas

should not be tampered
with because they represent

the entire cosmos.

JONATHAN YOUNG:
In the Hindu lore,

the Vedas are not
of earthly origin.

They are from
mysterious sources,

and they are from before time.

They are from
before human history

and are said to be from
before even the gods.

Major figures in modern
science were ardent students

of the Vedas Bourse and
Schrodinger read arduously,

Oppenheimer could read it
in Sanskrit, even Einstein

and Tesla were known
to have read it,

had a profound influence
on modern thinking.

NARRATOR: Inside
these ancient tombs

our Hinduism's first
stories of creation.

In one Vedic text
called the Rigveda,

creation was said to
have begun suddenly

and explosively from
an infinitesimal point

of pure energy.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
It describes

the strange cosmic
egg that begins

as a single concentrated
point, and everything expanded

from this single concentrated
point to form the universe.

Now, if you look at this
from a modern perspective,

this actually reflects modern
science's Big Bang Theory

where the universe
began as a singularity

and expanded to form the
universe as we know it today.

To me, the similarities
are astounding.

DAVID WILCOCK: It's not like
this idea was just hanging

around for anybody to
see, it was a concept

that our scientists
didn't start to embrace

until the 20th century, and
yet it was already there

in these texts that are at least
3,000 years old, if not much older.

SUBHASH KAK: What is
remarkable in the Vedas

is that they were able to come
to an understanding, which

is very similar to
the understanding

that modern scientists
need to the intuitions

of our great
contemporary scientists.

NARRATOR: Is it really possible
that the Hindu creation story

from the Rigveda is evidence
that people living thousands

of years ago may
have had knowledge

of the precise scientific
process involved

in the creation
of the universe--

a process modern scientists
are only just beginning

to understand.

Ancient astronaut
theorists say yes,

and believe that
further proof can

be found in another
early creation story--

the Hebrew Bible's
Book of Genesis.

JOHN BRANDENBURG: One of the
first phrases in Genesis,

let there be light.

And this is like the
moment of the Big Bang.

The whole universe began
effectively as light,

as energy.

We're speaking of
moments of existence

that humans would experience
just as a great flash of light.

And in that sense, the story
of Genesis in the Bible

and science converge.

JONATHAN YOUNG: We
have in this verse

the description of the very
first light, the light out

of which all things came,
the light which led finally

to match two things of substance
to the universe itself.

In current scientific
theory, fractions of a second

after the Big Bang, the
Higgs field transformed what

had been particles
of light into mass,

matter into creation itself.

We have very strong parallels
with the scriptures.

First, light, and then matter.

NARRATOR: Similar descriptions
of the universe beginning

from a single point of light
can be found in cultures

throughout the ancient world.

From Egypt to China and
to the American southwest.

JONATHAN YOUNG: In the
Egyptian creation narrative,

the very first god was Atum.

He emerged from the darkness to
create Egyptian civilization.

The Sumerian, the Egyptian,
the Norse, something

emerges out of darkness.

Order emerges out of chaos.

Where there was no
form, form begins.

There is something
about these stories that

is beyond any one of them that seems
to allude to a greater reality.

NARRATOR: But how is it that
the ancient world's most

sacred texts all
describe creation

in much the same way as our
current scientific theory?

And where did our ancestors
get this seemingly advanced

understanding of the
origins of the universe?

Ancient astronaut theorists
believe the answers may lie

in the stories of
the man who compiled

the Vedic texts in written
form, a mysterious sage

named Veda Vyasa.

In the Hindu
mythologies, Vyasa

is believed to be a
reincarnation of the god

Vishnu, and that
Vishnu specifically

took on a human embodiment
to be able to write down

these classic texts.

This sage, Vyasa who is
the author of the Vedas

said to be an immortal,

and ultimately one
of the gods himself.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: Some
have suggested that Vyasa came

to Earth to record and
impart this Vedic knowledge

to mankind.

Now, could it be possible
that he was, in fact,

an extraterrestrial who came
here with a direct mission

to bring knowledge to
mankind and guide them

in their understanding
of science and physics?

NARRATOR: Could
Veda Vyasa really

have been an extraterrestrial?

And might he have educated
mankind about the workings

of the universe
thousands of years

before the Large Hadron Collider
was ever even constructed?

But if so, why?

Ancient astronaut theorists
believe further evidence can

be found in the stories
of a Greek scientist

2,500 years ahead of this time.

The Thracian Coast, Greece.

At the northern
end of the Aegean

Sea lie the ruins of
an ancient metropolis.

2,500 years ago Abdera was a
thriving seaport and trading center.

It was a wealthy hub of
commerce between empires

and the home of one of history's
greatest thinkers Democritus.

Democritus was a Greek
philosopher in the 5th century

before the Common Era.

He was not just a philosopher,
but a scientific theorist.

In fact, his great
gifts have led

him to be revered as the
father of modern science.

NARRATOR: Democritus was
born to a wealthy family

and educated by Persian magi--

learned priests who are
said to control the fates.

It was believed
that he was trained

by the magi, these
priests of the east,

and that he also traveled
to Egypt and to Babylon

and studied with the
secret masters who

had these ancient
wisdom teachings hidden

in their lineage.

RICHARD RADER: Democritus
traveled quite a bit,

and through his travels
learned quite a lot.

Traveling east through what
we call the ancient near east,

studying with the magi, and
studying with Chaldeans who

were known for their
magical mysterious learnings

and their magical mysterious
knowledge as well.

NARRATOR: Through his
travels and his interactions

with people said to have
mysterious knowledge,

the young philosopher
and mathematician

came up with a radical
theory concerning

all matter in the universe.

Democritus theorized that
everything-- people, plants,

stone, and sun--

were made of the same
stuff, tiny particles

he called atomos.

SABINA MAGLIOCCO: He
developed an early version

of the atomic theory.

It is an early theory of
everything in the world being

made up of these very, very
small invisible particles which

Democritus have called atoms.

ROBERT R. CARGILL:
Democritus argued

that there is a
fundamental building block

but we couldn't see them.

That was the theory,
philosophical theory,

that was in ancient Greece.

This is long before science.

MICHAEL DENNIN: When Democritus
was talking about atoms,

it's amazing how close he
got to what we really know.

What he was motivated
by was the idea

that if you cut something
up, the pieces still

have the same properties.

And so he just did the
thought experiment, well,

if I keep cutting it
smaller, then eventually I'll

have the smallest possible
piece and that's the atom.

And that's what gives
it its properties.

That's basically our
picture of matter

now, that smallest piece
is the protons, neutrons,

and the electrons
that make up the atom.

NARRATOR: What Democritus
articulated 2,500 years ago

is remarkably similar to today's
standard model of physics--

the basis of our search for the
Higgs boson or god particle.

But how could Democritus
have known about the atom

and the forces that govern it?

Could it be that
Democritus had access

to advanced and perhaps even
extraterrestrial information

about the quantum realm?

Some ancient astronaut theorists
believe that the answer may lie

in an even more radical
suggestion Democritus made

about the cosmos.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
In his writings,

Democritus opposed it
there are many worlds,

and that these worlds
even sustain life.

Now, could it be
that by other worlds,

he was maybe even referring
to parallel universes?

MICHAEL DENNIN: As we fast
forward from Democritus

to the more current era where
the idea of parallel universes

have really taken office
the multi-universe view,

where all possible
universes has occurred,

this is very similar to
Democritus' idea of making

all possible universes.

But now they're very
much next to each other,

parallel in space as well
as occurring in time.

NARRATOR: Some
cosmologists today

believe our universe
is one of many,

and that the god particle
could lead us to discovering

these other universes.

Is it possible that
Democritus had knowledge

of this 2,500 years ago?

And might that information
have come to him not only

from a different world, but
perhaps a different universe?

JASON MARTELL: Democritus claim
to communicate with what he

thought were parallel worlds.

He sometimes with
exercise his energy

by going into places of the
dead and would receive what

he thought were voices and
information which would predict

the future.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: Some
accounts of Democritus

describe him as having access
to magical powers with which he

could control the weather and
predict natural disasters.

He also allegedly communicated
with what he referred to as

other worlds, and he
described images and voices

that came to him giving him
all sorts of information.

DAVID WILCOCK: Is it possible
that the priests of the magi,

the priests of the
Egyptian mystery schools,

and the priests
of Babylon taught

him some form of ancient
practice that allows

the human body to become an
instrument to connect directly

on a telepathic level with
extraterrestrial beings?

RABBI ARIEL BAR TZADOK: The more
that we draw forth in science,

we're going to discover the
truths of the past that have

long been hidden from us.

Yes, mankind has been
directed from the beginning.

NARRATOR: But did Democritus
truly understand atomic theory

and the concept of
multiple universes

all the way back in
the 5th century BC?

Or is it possible, as some
ancient astronaut theorists

suggest, that he was simply
documenting information passed

on to him by more
advanced beings, clues

about our universe deliberately
left for us to discover

over time?

Perhaps the answer can be found
by looking at the discovery

of the god particle
and its connection

to the Mayan calendar.

Palenque, Mexico.

These majestic stone ruins are
all that remain of the once

powerful Mayan city.

With its towering stone
pyramids and ornate plazas,

Palenque reveals the
true sophistication

of the Mayan civilization.

In terms of scientific
and artistic achievements,

the Maya were among the world's
best ancient civilizations.

Their advancements in math,
engineering, astronomy,

geometry were unparalleled
in the entire Americas.

NARRATOR: It was in
this ancient Mayan city

that researchers have unearthed
one of the best examples

of a remarkable calendar
that tracked not only days

and months, but also ages
spanning thousands of years.

ED BARNHART: The Maya
were very, very intent

on recording the passage
of time, so much so

that early scholars
called the entire culture

esoteric time worshippers.

They had a number
of clinical cycles.

One of the last ones they
made, we call the Long Count.

To the Western mind,
you could look at it

as the odometer on your car.

It clicks through time.

And scholars have a
difference of opinion

whether it is a cycle
that will reset itself

or whether it is a system that
can go backwards and forwards

into perpetuity.

WILLIAM HENRY: The Mayans were
obsessed with the idea of time

cycles and worlds.

They believed that we
had existed in three

previous worlds, and that
they could forecast or predict

the emergence of a new world.

And that was the purpose
of the Mayan calendar,

was to pinpoint a specific date
and time when one world would

end and a new world would begin.

NARRATOR: The Mayan
calendar last turned

on December 21st 2012.

Thousands of people
from around the world

descended on Mayan
sites to mark the event.

Some, however, saw dire
omens in the occasion.

The Mayan prediction of the
end of the world in December

2012 caused a
firestorm of prophecy,

watchers, and people believing
that it was actually doomsday.

But as we know now,
nothing of that nature

actually happened at that time.

NARRATOR: If it wasn't
a doomsday clock

as many believed, then just what was
this ancient calendar predicting?

Ancient astronaut theorist
suggest it may have,

in fact, been counting down,
not to the end of the world

but to the dawn of a new
era in human history.

The Mayans never said it
was going to be doomsday.

They simply said it would
be a new moment of creation.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: Maybe
the Mayan calendar predicted

a monumental leap forward, a
transition that would lead us

into a whole new era of
scientific understanding

and possibility.

DAVID CHILDRESS: What
did happen was we

discovered the god
particle-- the Higgs boson.

So perhaps what the Mayan
calendar was trying to predict

was not some
terrible catastrophe,

but our own very important
discovery of the god particle

and how we can use
this to understand

our place in the universe.

NARRATOR: If the Maya did
indeed predict the discovery

of the god particle, did they
also leave a clue as to where

this knowledge will take us?

Some ancient astronaut theorists
believe the answer may be found

480 miles north on carved
blocks of hard volcanic

in the site at another Mayan
archeological site in Izapa.

On Stela 5, there is a
depiction of a mythological tree

that the Maya believed connected
the cosmos and the Earth.

For the Maya, the
world tree bridge the

seen and the unseen, the
celestial and the earthly.

The Mayans believed the tree
exuded a kind of syrup or sap

called the itz.

It had qualities
that allowed portals,

to open to make contact
with unseen dimensions.

It was the key, if you
will, to other worlds.

JASON MARTELL: The Mayans talked
about this type of cosmic ooze

that they thought literally
emanated from the world tree.

Itz actually opened up
portals to other worlds.

Maybe they're talking about
some type of advanced energy

that they didn't
directly have access to

but how the understandings
and teachings possibly taught

to them by extraterrestrials.

When I looked at the
symbolism of the sacred tree,

I got to thinking what if
that sap is the Higgs boson,

the god particle, and you have
scientists saying that it could

potentially lead to time
travel and our ability

to create tiny wormholes.

Now, is it possible that
we can use the discovery

of the god particle
and the Higgs boson

to understand our
place in the universe

and even to teleport and
travel through time and space?

NARRATOR: Was the
Mayan calendar devised

to predict the discovery
of the god particle?

And if so, could this mean
that we are getting closer

to a reconnection with alien
beings that visited Earth long ago?

Some ancient astronaut
theorists believe another clue

may be found just outside the
entrance to the Large Hadron

Collider with the
statue of Shiva.

Geneva, Switzerland.

Outside the headquarters
of CERN's Large Hadron

Collider is a 12-foot statue
of the Shiva Nataraja,

or the dancing Shiva, one of
Hinduisms most powerful gods.

JONATHAN YOUNG: Lord Shiva is
one of the three great gods

of the Hindu teaching.

He is the god of destruction.

His job is to destroy but
it is in order to renew.

He destroys and creates.

His energy, the dance,
he is considered the lord

of the dance, a cosmic dance.

And it is the dance of
destruction and recreation.

DEEPAK SHIMKHADA: God Shiva
is a complex character.

It's very difficult to
understand Shiva in one word

because he is the
god of procreation

and he is also the
god of destruction.

He is also the god that
destroys everything.

Because everything that is
created must come to an end.

NARRATOR: According
to Hindu mythology,

Shiva is the god who will
one day destroy the universe

to make way for a new one.

JONATHAN YOUNG: Shiva's cosmic
dance is not seen as a negative

even though it is
greatly destructive.

It is destroying in order for
something new to be created.

So it is an essential part
of the process of life

that things are cleared away so
new things, new possibilities,

better possibilities can emerge.

NARRATOR: But could the
various attributes associated

with this Hindu god be connected
to a recent discovery made

at the Large Hadron Collider
about how our universe could

suddenly and
catastrophically end?

ROBERT FRISBEE: One of
the intriguing outcomes

of the Higgs boson
mass measurement

is the realization
that the Higgs boson on

and the top cork
may put us right

on the ragged edge of
an instability condition

in the universe.

The universe can exist in
several different state.

Water, it can exist as steam,
as liquid water, frozen ice.

If the universe
changes state,

it will produce bubbles
of spacetime expanding

at the speed of light that
can destroy everything,

all normal matter, all
everything, in the universe

as we know it.

JOHN BRANDENBURG: Some people
are seeing theories that

say there's going to
be expanding bubbles

of nothingness that will
create whole new universes.

And in a sense, we know that
the universe has to be unstable

because it made the Big
Bang in the first place.

NARRATOR: Could Shiva not only
be a mythological deity that

represents the ancient Hindus'
understanding of the universe,

but might he also with
been and otherworldly being

who passed on information
to our ancestors

that we are only
now rediscovering?

JASON MARTELL: Maybe the great
god Shiva, the destroyer,

was actually trying to
communicate in ancient times

things that we're learning
today about breaking things down

to the finest particles and
understanding that these are

how we understand the basis
of life at a subatomic level.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
In Hindu tradition,

Shiva was often portrayed as
blue-skinned with a third eye

in the middle of his forehead.

And if you look at the different
depictions of Shiva's dance,

you see that he is
almost always surrounded

by some type of a circle
structure with flames.

JASON MARTELL: We see
parallels to technology

where he is always depicted
in the circle when he's

doing his cosmic dance.

It seems very similar to what
we see at the Hadron Accelerator

in this large circular
particle accelerator.

Maybe there's some tie-in
between Shiva being depicted

in a circular device and the
way we're smashing particles now

in the Hadron Accelerator.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: Now,
what did our human ancestor

artists try to depict here?

Do the accounts of
his cosmic dance

refer to some type of
misunderstood technology

very much similar to the
Large Hadron Collider.

JONATHAN YOUNG: In
the Catholic mass,

there is a ceremonial
artifact called a monstrance.

If you look at this image,
if you look at this item,

it has a burst of light,
very similar to the pattern

of Shiva's light, this
dance of creation.

Some say this shape can be seen
in the Hadron Collider at CERN.

NARRATOR: Does this suggest
that the invention of tools

like the Large Hadron
Collider are happening

as part of a plan?

Did celestial beings who came
to Earth in the distant past

who have early humans insights
into the origin of existence?

Ancient astronaut
theorists believe

the answers may be found,
not in what CERN has already

uncovered, but in
discoveries yet to come.

CERN Headquarters,
Geneva, Switzerland.

The Large Hadron
Collider was heralded

as a monumental success when
it helped to discover the Higgs

boson or god particle in 2012.

But that was only the beginning.

Since then, researchers
have embarked

on a multi-year project
to upgrade what is already

the most powerful
machine on Earth

by retrofitting it with bigger,
better, and more efficient systems.

When the Large Hadron Collider
is activated again in 2015,

it will wield at least double
the power it did in 2012

and could boast even 10 times
more by the end of the decade.

ROBERT FRISBEE: And when you look
at the size of the detectors,

the Large Hadron Collider,

we realize that we
really are pushing

the limits of technology.

The Large Hadron Collider is
something like seven times more

powerful than anything
else that existed before.

Will be even able to get even
closer to conditions in time

even closer to the
beginning of the Big Bang?

MARIA SPIROPULU: The work
that is happening right now

during the LHC shutdown is
to prepare the detectors

and the experiments for
the big energy step.

We are going to even
more higher energy,

and that means that
we are probing deeper

and we can be just around the
corner of discovering something

which is completely
blowing our minds.

JOHN BRANDENBURG:
The human race is

going to be focusing more
energy on a small area

than we've ever done before.

So we're looking for
a whole new phenomena.

NARRATOR: The
scientists at CERN hope

that by increasing the power
of the Large Hadron Collider

they will not only be able
to learn more about the god

particle but also uncover
other perhaps even

more profound secrets
of the universe.

But some scientists have voiced
concerns that the Large Hadron

Collider could create a black
hole that would swallow up

the Earth, set off a
massive nuclear explosion,

or even form a vacuum bubble
that could tip the balance

of the entire universe.

Perhaps this is
a little hubris,

and we all know what happens
when physicists get full of hubris.

But there's always
a little bit of fear

when you're pushing back
the frontiers of science.

It's part of the
frontier spirit.

MARIA SPIROPULU: We have to
admit that we don't know how

the universe started.

And as we go into higher
and higher energies,

we don't know what we are going
to find because this physics

at these levels is an
experimental, completely

experimental science.

We don't have the complete
understanding and description

of the universe that can create
this anxiety and fear that we

might create something
that will end the universe.

When we look at the
experiments that have been

conducted at CERN with
the Large Hadron Collider,

it may be that humanity
is taking its first baby

steps towards the actual
construction of the universe.

We're manipulating matter
at the subatomic level

and we are literally harnessing
the forces of creation themselves.

JOHN BRANDENBURG: The amount
of the universe that we see

and know that is part of the
standard model of physics

is only like 4% of the
mass of the universe.

We're going into vast
unknown territory.

We're going to be witnessing
events that no human being has

ever witnessed before,
and energy density scales

no human being has ever
been able to create before.

So it's very exciting.

Who knows what we'll find?

NARRATOR: By wielding
the incredible power

of the Large Hadron
Collider, could we one day

recreate the Big Bang to form
an entirely new universe?

And at the same time
destroy our own?

Or might we instead be
reaching the threshold

of a new age for mankind?

If ancient astronauts came
to our planet hundreds

of centuries ago,
perhaps they deliberately

planted the seeds of knowledge
that would eventually lead us

to where we are today.

Perhaps finding the so-called
god particle will allow us

to finally answer mankind's
most persistent questions--

who are we?

Where did we come from?

And the most persistent of all--

are we alone?