, and it has an ominous yet cool sounding name. Be impressed, be amazed, be afraid, if it's successful it will revolutionize communication, it's the Grid.Created by scientists at Cern, the largest particle physics laboratory in the world, the Grid is like the internet, only done right the first time and on steroids. Built to process data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a particle accelerator built specifically to prove the existence of the Higgs boson (scientific theory says this particle gives matter mass, so the LHC is looking for the origin of the universe). As imagined, the amount of data the LHC will produce is enormous and would crash the internet, enter the Grid.
While I applaud the Grid, it's important to remember this technology won't reach "the people" for a long time. The digital divide has only grown, world governments know there are people who have access to information and those that don't and are prioritizing fixing this. A study from Alcatel-Lucent found "a lack of infrastructure and illiteracy are two prime causes of sustained poverty," access to information is one key to eradicating poverty.
I usually try to avoid links to Fox News, I imagine this is for obvious reasons, but the site provided what I consider the best article about the Grid.
Keep in ming, the Grid is an expensive technology and that expense is likely to kept in the province of science, business, and government for a very long time.
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