CERN at 70: how the Higgs hunt elevated particle physics to Hollywood status

<p>When former physicist <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-gillies-393b3910/?originalSubdomain=ch">James Gillies</a> sat down for dinner in 2009 with actors Tom Hanks and Ayelet Zurer, joined by legendary director Ron Howard, he could scarcely believe the turn of events. Gillies was the head of communications at CERN, and the Hollywood trio were in town for the launch of <em>Angels &amp; Demons</em> – the blockbuster film partly set at CERN with antimatter central to its plot, based on the Dan Brown novel.</p> <p>With CERN turning 70 this year, Gillies joins the <em>Physics World Stories</em> podcast to reflect on how his team handled unprecedented global interest in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the hunt for the Higgs boson. Alongside the highs, the CERN comms team also had to deal with the lows. Not least, the <a href="https://physicsworld.com/a/lhc-report-confirms-electrical-fault/">electrical fault</a> that put the LHC out of action for 18 months shortly after its ...