Large Hadron Collider

Ross Macintosh

I get the feeling from this thread that this LHC thing is big news in Europe. Here on this side of the pond I hadn't heard of it until I saw this thread yesterday. To you European fans - would you care about this thing if it had been built in South America with non-European funding? I suspect this thing is rallying some pride in Europe - "look how we're cutting edge" - that gives it an emotional impact in Europe that is not happening here.

Today Google have featured it with their daily illustration.

remus

Thats a good point ross, although i think its only fair really, as youve got the best space program

pav_3j

i just love the serendipity in science, that is what makes it such a wonderfully interesting subject.

anyone thinking this LHC is a bad idea is exceptionally naive.

penicillin, post-it notes, the microwave, the pacemaker, superglue.

all examples of small expeiments which have yielded more than the scientist was hoping for.
imagine what discoveries can be made from this experiment.

personally, i am very excited by what could come of this, and i'm glad we live in a world where people are given the chance to experiment, learn, discover and inovate.
what if man had never discovered fire?

mankind can only benefit from this, and we shall all be richer for the work these scientists have put in.

unless they do make a black hole, that would be a bummer.

pav

Alan Fraser

@remus said:

Thats a good point ross, although i think its only fair really, as youve got the best space program

Canada has a space program?

Gaieus

@unknownuser said:

I'am still here.....the particles they say are the size of a mosquito. So the thought of two mosquito's colliding together causing the world to end are pretty unlikely They also say particles like these are always colliding anyway, without any bad side effects

Hm... Neutrons are even smaller - and look at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

remus

I was thinking in terms of continents

James Fraser

Thanks Gaieus. Yes, I have just been lurking for a while, but someone asked for proof that people knew about the LHC, so I thought now might be the time to comment.

I have been into computers for some time and had to use them a fair amount at university (my project involved analysing 10GB of simulation data and I wasn't doing that by hand); I have also always had a bit of an interest in modelling (I used to do wargaming, but was mainly interested in converting the figures and making scenery), SU gave me a nice way to combine the two. As a big fan of automation I am also looking at Ruby, which I think I am starting to get the hang of.

Ross: I would still have been interested and would no doubt have read about it in Physics World, but it may have received less attention from the general media. I don't remember seeing that much about Fermilab over here, although I have a feeling there may have been something earlier in the year. Actually, in the scientific press I have read about Fermilab recently and I have to say that their financial situation is worrying, even more so that they are not alone.

Mr S

Hi,

I think this provides an excellent answer as to "why".

@unknownuser said:

Q: Can you tell me why we are doing this experiment? I can understand that you are hoping to reveal the origins of mass by smashing tiny particles together but what advantages (besides increase in knowledge) do you expect to obtain from this?

@unknownuser said:

A: Experiment is the basis of the scientific method, without which there would be no modern world as we know it.

The quest to understand the smallest building blocks of nature and the forces that hold them together arguably began with the ancient Greeks, but it was only when we began to conduct experiments that we discovered the electron (1897), quantum mechanics (triggered by precision observations of the light emitted by elements when heated), X-rays, the atomic nucleus, radioactive decay... the list is practically endless.

Without these experimental discoveries, and the subsequent deepening of our understanding of the Universe, there would be no electronics, no silicon chips or transistors, no medical imaging technology, no nuclear power stations, no X-rays or chemotherapy treatments for cancer... again an almost endless list.

What this should teach us is two things. First, it is virtually impossible to deepen our understanding of Nature without experiments. Second, understanding Nature has never been a bad idea - indeed without the pioneers of the past century, our civilisation would be immeasurably poorer.

I do not know what the continuation of this long and illustrious quest will lead to, but I would be extremely surprised if a writer called upon to defend scientific enquiry at the turn of the 22nd Century does not point to the LHC as the foundation of a hundred new technologies, each considered essential to our quality of life.

Answer supplied by: Professor Brian Cox who is one of the LHC scientists at Cern.

A near perfect explanation in my view.

Oh boy, I really like this guy!

He finishes his interview with this gem:

@unknownuser said:

I am in fact immensely irritated by the conspiracy theorists who spread this nonsense around and try to scare people. This non-story is symptomatic of a larger mistrust in science, particularly in the US, which includes intelligent design amongst other things.

The only serious issue is why so many people who don't have the time or inclination to discover for themselves why this stuff is total crap have to be exposed to the opinions of these half-wits.

Regards
MR S

geh4evr

@gaieus said:

what brought you to the SU World?

Well, I think it was Google Earth that did that. I used to love the models from a site called Google Earth Hacks, Eventually I found out what program they used, Downloaded the Demo from @Last, and eventually bought it.

Gaieus

That site still exists (I'm also a member though browse it very rarely). I also stumbled upon SU incidentally (I'm not an architect or such).

watkins

Latest news: They have beams going in both directions. So, fingers in ears!!

ELYSIUM

I just want to say that although the machine is working, they are just testing to see if they can accelerate particles to the required speeds, in both ways, clockwise and counter clockwise, so far i think they will only test clockwise. The particle collisions will only happen a few months from now, so don't worry lol. We still have some more months to live, hey maybe SU7 is out before the end of the world!

Check out this funny video http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=BXzugu39pKM&feature=related

I love this comment:
"The end of the world BETTER happen this time. I was very disapointed when Y2K went to sh#t."

david_h

I'm still here by the way, so I think our fears have been for naught.

Conspiracy theory . ..How do we know it's really down there? I mean . .who gets to see it. they faked the moon landings. couldn't they have faked this as well. they say it's 100M down. ..but IS IT???

AND besides .. it's French . .. how reliable could it be? Any of you guys ever own a Peugeot?

pav_3j

yeah i have, it never once broke down, despite being second hand, and with 100,000 on the clock.

my fiat on the other hand, now that broke down most weeks, and it was brand new.
bloody italians <--- first wink i have ever used!

pav

watkins

A useful and informative link:

BBC News - Large Hadron Collider: Guide introduction

Introduction to the Large Hadron Collider experiment.

(news.bbc.co.uk)

Regards,
Bob

bubbalove

The suicides have already begun... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26641652/

This really is just sad that people will by into this "big bang" theory thinking it is going to destroy the earth...

david_h

Suicides? Already? They didn't wait for the comet?

david_h

Darn . ..My mom told me I was the God Particle.

JuanV.Soler

Have you seen this ?
Higgs boson is the name some science people have given to make God a particle.
well, lets see.

I think it has been an outrage to that bit of land.
27 kms of construction under that bit.
In the future, when next experiment comes to be done, it would be great that, we, citizens of this whole LAND, could be able to vote on favour or in des_favour.
Not only the goverment and the so recognised science people.

I dont like this experiment as you can see.
But I dont have any objection to it either.

The only point i want to make is that, for instance , this experiment could have been taking in the outsides of the earth, in the space. And be able to do it there, not here.
Just in case.
That maybe the case.

Really, who knows things overthere are going to be the same ?

Did you see that..JPG