Mark Thomson appointed director-general of CERN to lead new particle accelerator project

Mark Thomson, a British physicist, has been appointed as the new director-general of CERN, the world's largest particle physics laboratory. He will lead the organization as it plans to build a new 62-mile particle accelerator, aiming to explore fundamental questions about the universe. Thomson's leadership comes as CERN focuses on understanding the Higgs boson and the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy. He emphasizes the need for international collaboration to fund and construct the new accelerator, which is projected to cost $16 billion. CERN recently ended its collaboration with Russia and Belarus due to the Ukraine conflict. Thomson supports scientific collaboration but acknowledges that political decisions are ultimately made by member states.