"Proposed €20bn Next-Generation Particle-Smasher to Uncover Universe's Secrets"

CERN is proposing to build the Future Circular Collider (FCC), a particle accelerator three times the size of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to explore energies beyond the LHC's capabilities and hunt for evidence of dark matter and dark energy. The proposed 90-kilometer-long collider aims to start smashing electrons in the 2040s and protons in the 2070s, with a price tag of $17.2 billion. Critics argue that the project is a gamble and that the funds could be better spent elsewhere, but the decision ultimately rests on the countries that fund CERN.