Basement: Daniel Whiteson | CERN, Dark Matter, and the Aliens Next Door

Basement: Daniel Whiteson | CERN, Dark Matter, and the Aliens Next Door

From The Why Files: Operation Podcast by The Why Files

April 20, 2026 · 3h 18m

About this episode

Daniel Whiteson discusses his work at CERN and explores the mysteries of dark matter and the universe.

Daniel Whiteson is a particle physicist at UC Irvine and an active researcher at CERN's Large Hadron Collider — the largest machine ever built — where 5,000 scientists are using high-energy collisions to read the universe's secret menu. He co-hosts the show Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe, co-created an award-winning science show for preschoolers, and recently wrote a book asking whether aliens would even recognize our physics at all. His work sits at the collision point of experimental science, philosophy, and the biggest unanswered questions in physics — what everything is made of, why gravity is so weak, and whether the universe has a bottom. DANIEL LINKS sites.uci.edu/daniel X - @DanielWhiteson Podcast - Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

People in this episode

Guest: Daniel Whiteson

Topics covered

  • particle physics
  • CERN
  • dark matter
  • aliens
  • universe
  • high-energy collisions

Keywords

  • CERN
  • dark matter
  • particle physics
  • aliens
  • universe
  • gravity
  • Large Hadron Collider

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CERN, UC Irvine

Books & works: Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe

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