You know that Large Hadron Collider that will answer some fundamental questions about the nature of our existence (or destroy us all) when it fires particles together in October? The Royal Society of Chemistry in London held a contest to change its name recently, apparently after too many accidental misspellings of "Hadron".
They asked ordinary citizens to suggest names, and the most popular, by far, was...are you ready..."HALO".
According to the Royal Society: "Halo conjures visions of radiant beauty, power and wisdom. The circle of light reflects the collider's form; it is a crowning achievement of science and engineering. It also gives more than a nod to the experiment's importance to religious debate."
And Master Chief.
Hit the jump for some of the more than 2,500 rejected names.
- Ovid's Phaeton
- The Magic Roundabout
- The Genesis Engine
- E42 - E for Energy, 42, from The Hitchhikers Guide
- Adam Smasher
- Hawkinator after Stephen Hawking
- Puff The Magic Hadron
- Bosonator
- BOB - Biggest Of Bangs
- Mr Twirly Beams
- The One Ring
- Stargate
