The Big Bang Machine

[JackC 0]

I don't usually recommend popular science because so little of it is any good but The Big Bang Machine wasn't bad. It's about the Large Hadron Collider at CERN which might prove (or disprove) the existence of the Higgs Boson. This could be a turning point in particle physics and I for one will be interested to see what this experiment turns up.



BBC iPlayer link: The Big Bang Machine

http://www.lhc.ac.uk/

[quade 3]

One of my current favorites;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[JackC 0]

So that's where all the grant money went.

[vortexring 0]

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I don't usually recommend popular science because so little of it is any good but The Big Bang Machine wasn't bad. It's about the Large Hadron Collider at CERN which might prove (or disprove) the existence of the Higgs Boson. This could be a turning point in particle physics and I for one will be interested to see what this experiment turns up.



BBC iPlayer link: The Big Bang Machine

http://www.lhc.ac.uk/

I'll be fuckin' delighted that come Wednesday I don't end up being sucked into some wank continental blackhole.

Besides, we were talking about this in work today. One of the guys asked exactly what was meant to be achieved by colliding these particles at speeds close to that of light?
Answer: Imagine two mongs(retatrds/fools/dickheads,etc), facing each other in a large curved corridor. They're told that a few hundred yards ahead there is a free ice cream factory. They have twenty seconds to get there.

Mongs sprint off; except, there isn't an ice cream factory, there is a wood chipping machine...

Further to that, my mate also said; I wish my wife could suck as good as this black hole. In fact, she's probably better at sucking the fun out of life than the blackhole.

Made me laugh!

edit: At least the hoovering will get done...

'for it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "chuck 'im out, the brute!" But it's "saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.'

[billvon 2,417]

>I'll be fuckin' delighted that come Wednesday I don't end up being
>sucked into some wank continental blackhole.

Wednesday is the first time the beam is being turned on. They're not doing any really high energy collisions for a while, so no earth-destroying black holes for a little while at least.

[christelsabine 1]

They let you go??



Congrats, islander.

dudeist skydiver # 3105

[vortexring 0]

Yeah,yeah, tell me something I don't know - besides, it's only through a mathematical chance of it not being zero.

But I hope it happens; it'd be funny as fuck. Stepping out into the conservatory/driveway/backdoor with a morning brew and disappearing into the wild blue yonder with a loud SSSLURP!

'for it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "chuck 'im out, the brute!" But it's "saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.'

[vortexring 0]

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They let you go??



Congrats, islander.

Hey - that's your hoovering chores sorted!

'for it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "chuck 'im out, the brute!" But it's "saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.'

[masterblaster72 0]

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It's about the Large Hadron Collider at CERN which might prove (or disprove) the existence of the Higgs Boson. This could be a turning point in particle physics and I for one will be interested to see what this experiment turns up.

They're also looking to prove/disprove the existence of the graviton particle in this collider. Some quantum and string theorists believe that if they find a split-second instance of a graviton that disappears in the next instance, then they'll have proven the theory that gravity is a force that is unbound in this universe and crosses into "branes" or higher-dimensional spaces that we are unable to observe.

The technical aspects of how this is all done is a way beyond my education level, but it's fascinating to read about.

Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

[vortexring 0]

Agreed mate - by god I've Jacob Crackers crumbs spread around my feet needing a hoover...

Seriously though - I'll be disappointed if it all turns into a rolling goatfuck and they assert they need funding for a machine 36 miles long, or what have you.

Jeez. All they need to do is ask Nerdgirl - she'll know!

'for it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "chuck 'im out, the brute!" But it's "saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.'

[FallingOsh 0]

I only did about half an hour of research so forgive my ignorance.

I understand the thirst for knowledge and the risk of pursing it. However, some of the things I read discussed mini black holes and strangelets. Both could collect inside the Earth and consume the planet, which the theory of relativity predicts.

So why are they flirting with new particles and theories on a level that could, according to Einstein, destroy the planet? Is this the next logical step or could more research be done on a smaller scale first?

Kinda makes global warming seem not so bad when there's fucking black holes at the door.

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Stay positive and love your life.

[christelsabine 1]

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....
Kinda makes global warming seem not so bad when there's fucking black holes at the door.

Yep. A bit surprising but, who cares ....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7596134.stm

dudeist skydiver # 3105

[FallingOsh 0]

very funny.

I like the meteorologist who said it's not snow, it's just hail. I know there's a technical difference but it's still water that got too cold and then fell on the ground.

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Stay positive and love your life.

[billvon 2,417]

>So why are they flirting with new particles and theories on a level that
>could, according to Einstein, destroy the planet?

Well, no, Einstein never predicted that LHC experiments could destroy the planet. He's just one of the many physicists who have considered the physics of black holes. Hawking was the first one to really look at the physics of very small black holes, and he predicts that such holes would be very unstable and evaporate rapidly. So even if we managed to produce one (very, very unlikely) it probably wouldn't do much but give a few physicists Nobel prizes.

In the 1940's, scientists were deciding whether or not to test the first atomic weapon (the Trinity test, the first implosion-type plutonium weapon.) Two fears raised by physicists:

1) They did not know what percentage of the fissile material would actually fission; under some scenarios, the entire state of New Mexico would be destroyed.

2) Since nitrogen exhibits some boosting properties, one physicist thought there was a nonzero chance we would "ignite" the nitrogen in the atmosphere and blow the entire planet to bits.

But we did that anyway. There's even a smaller chance of disaster with this test.

[kallend 1,635]

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I only did about half an hour of research so forgive my ignorance.

I understand the thirst for knowledge and the risk of pursing it. However, some of the things I read discussed mini black holes and strangelets. Both could collect inside the Earth and consume the planet, which the theory of relativity predicts.

No it doesn't.

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So why are they flirting with new particles and theories on a level that could, according to Einstein, destroy the planet? Is this the next logical step or could more research be done on a smaller scale first?

.

Don't give up your day job to become a physicist.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[FallingOsh 0]

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Quote

I only did about half an hour of research so forgive my ignorance.

I understand the thirst for knowledge and the risk of pursing it. However, some of the things I read discussed mini black holes and strangelets. Both could collect inside the Earth and consume the planet, which the theory of relativity predicts.

No it doesn't.

Quote

So why are they flirting with new particles and theories on a level that could, according to Einstein, destroy the planet? Is this the next logical step or could more research be done on a smaller scale first?

.

Don't give up your day job to become a physicist.

Thanks for chiming in with something useful. I started the post with saying I only did 30 minutes of research.

If you know and can explain the string theory, strangelets, and mini black holes then please enlighten me.

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Stay positive and love your life.

[FallingOsh 0]

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1) They did not know what percentage of the fissile material would actually fission; under some scenarios, the entire state of New Mexico would be destroyed.

2) Since nitrogen exhibits some boosting properties, one physicist thought there was a nonzero chance we would "ignite" the nitrogen in the atmosphere and blow the entire planet to bits.

But we did that anyway. There's even a smaller chance of disaster with this test.

Fair enough. I can't say I'm thrilled that nuclear weapons were tested and put in the inventory. I understand your point, none the less

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Stay positive and love your life.

[skittles_of_SDC 0]

Hate to break it to you guys but they aren't doing anything new. Fermilab has been doing this same shit for years. It used to be the biggest particle accelerator (CERN is now) and my town, county, state, and country are all still in one piece. sorry to disappoint.

[Andrewwhyte 1]

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One of my current favorites;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM

White people dancing badly.

[quade 3]

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One of my current favorites;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM

White people dancing badly.

I've personally made at least a dozen projects like that. Spare time. Just for kicks. Shown at some opening party for the construction team.

As construction celebration videos goes, it is a pretty good one.

I really like the vocal imitation of Stephan Hawking. Wow. Spot on!

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[JackC 0]

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I only did about half an hour of research so forgive my ignorance.

I understand the thirst for knowledge and the risk of pursing it. However, some of the things I read discussed mini black holes and strangelets. Both could collect inside the Earth and consume the planet, which the theory of relativity predicts.

So why are they flirting with new particles and theories on a level that could, according to Einstein, destroy the planet? Is this the next logical step or could more research be done on a smaller scale first?

Kinda makes global warming seem not so bad when there's fucking black holes at the door.

It's nowhere near as bad as the scaremongers would have you believe. It generally not wise to get your info from crackpots.

According to the Standard Model (which is the leading theory in particle physics) the LHC isn't big enough to create a micro black hole. It's only some of the more fringe theories that say it might be possible. Even so, if they do make one, the Swartzchild radius of a micro black hole (that's how close something has to get to it before it gets sucked in) is only 10^-35m (thats 0.000000000000000000000000000000000001 m). But even then, Hawking radiation will dissolve the black hole into a shower of energy and create other less exotic particles in a tiny fraction of a second. So really, it's a load of fuss about nothing; unless you're a physicist, in which case it's like winning the lottery, twice.

[SpeedRacer 1]

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So why are they flirting with new particles and theories on a level that could, according to Einstein, destroy the planet?

So they destroy the Earth. Who cares, really. we'll probably never miss it.

Speed Racer
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[SpeedRacer 1]

From the title of this thread, I thought someone had finally invented the Orgasmatron.

Speed Racer
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[rasmack 0]

I work at CERN (specifically the ATLAS experiment). I normally recommend that people read the safety report if they are worried about strangelets / black holes / whatever. There are parts of that paper that are understandable by the general public.

For instance one can check out the section on cosmic rays:

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This means that Nature has already conducted the equivalent of about a hundred thousand LHC experimental programmes on Earth already – and the planet still exists.

It goes on to point out how we haven't seen any other planets spontaneusly explode / implode / whatever as a result of a cosmic ray impact. This is essentially a zero risk.

As for Wednesday, we expect to see first beam before lunch. It will be a 450 GeV pilot bunch substantially below TEVATRON energies (Fermilab, Illinois). First collisions will follow 1-2 weeks later. High energy collisions will take an additional month or two.

If you want a measure of our excitement with this then think how it must have been around NASA at the time of the first Apollo launches...

HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

[Jasmin 0]

The only thing collapsing at CERN is some of the old buildings that the old maintenance boys won't stop the windows falling out of. And the only blackhole scientists are worried about is a financial one!

xj

"I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."