Summary:

• **What is RHIC and why was it important?** The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) was a massive machine at Brookhaven National Laboratory that smashed tiny particles together at incredibly high speeds to help scientists understand what the universe was made of right after the Big Bang. For over 20 years, it helped physicists discover new things about matter and energy.

• **What happens now that RHIC is closing?** Even though RHIC is stopping operations, this is actually exciting news for science because scientists will now focus on building and improving other powerful machines and experiments. This gives American scientists a chance to work on new discoveries and keep the United States at the forefront of physics research.