Posted on 05/27/2008 12:53:48 PM PDT by Brilliant
European particle physics laboratory CERN is set to launch its gigantic experiment which hopes to throw light on the origins of the universe within a month, the laboratory's head said Tuesday.
If things go according to plan, the greatest experiment in the history of particle physics could unveil a sub-atomic component, the Higgs Boson, known as "the God Particle."
The "Higgs," named after the eminent British physicist, Peter Higgs, who first proposed it in 1964, would fill a gaping hole in the benchmark theory for understanding the physical cosmos.
Other work on the so-called Large Hadron Collider (LHC) could explain dark matter and dark energy -- strange phenomena that, stunned astrophysicists discovered a few years ago, account for 96 percent of the universe.
The LHC device "will be in working order by the end of June," CERN director general Robert Aymar told journalists.
A gamble costing six billion Swiss francs (almost six billion dollars, 3.9 billion euros) that has harnessed the labours of more than 2,000 physicists from nearly three dozen countries, the LHC is the biggest, most powerful high-energy particle accelerator ever built.
Beams of hydrogen protons will whizz around at near-light speed in opposite directions until, bent by powerful superconducting magnets, they will smash together in four bus-sized detector chambers, where they will be annihilated at temperatures hotter than the sun.
But Aymar played down hopes of any immediate discoveries once the LHC is set in motion.
"We will accumulate data for two years and it will take a lot of time to interpret," he said.
He also scoffed at fears that the massive experiment could create a black hole with potentially devastating consequences for life on Earth.
"The system is totally safe. There is nothing to fear," he said.
...I'm getting flashbacks to Spiderman 2...
Nice explanation of why one needs not to worry about black holes being created by this atom smasher:
http://carnabyfudge.blogspot.com/2008/03/botanist-lobbies-to-save-humanity.html
At least Europe goes first. ;-)
This is the thing that we were trying to discover with the Texas supercollider that got cancelled by the Democrats because they did not like Texas.
Not that I think spending all that money on an atom smasher is such a good idea anyway...
This assumes hawking radiation is real, which has yet to be directly observed. I’m not arguing against hawking though, I believe he was right, but if he’s wrong it has ramifications for how quickly a hypothetical black hole would evaporate (never?).
Great post. My own question was also the first letter posted at the end. Good explanations!
Ah yes, I almost forgot The Krell Furnace.
What happens if the ‘Hawking radiation’ theory is incorrect, and it doesn’t evaporate?
Thanks for the thread. I’ve kept periodic track of this, and thought that CERN was going on-line in August or even later. This is great news, and they must have done some preliminary testing to determine that it could be turned on earlier. Keep us posted.
“He also scoffed at fears that the massive experiment could create a black hole with potentially devastating consequences for life on Earth.”
Let’s hope there’s not a blackhole out there somewhere looking for a partner.
Pastore: Is there anything connected in the hopes of this accelerator that in any way involves the security of this country?
Wilson: No sir; I do not believer so.
Pastore: Nothing at all?
Wilson: Nothing at all.
Pastore: It has no value in that respect?
Wilson: It only has to do with the respect with which we regard one another, the dignity of men, our love of culture. It has to do with those things. It has nothing to do with the military, I am sorry.
Pastore: Don't be sorry for it.
Wilson: I am not, but I cannot in honesty say it has any such application.
Pastore: Is there anything here that projects us in a position of being competitive with the Russians, with regard to this race?
Wilson: Only from a long-range point of view, of a developing technology. Otherwise, it has to do with: Are we good painters, good sculptors, great poets? I mean all the things that we really venerate and honor in our country and are patriotic about. In that sense, this new knowledge has all to do with honor and country but it has nothing to do directly with defending our country, except to make it worth defending.
Regardless, I have no faith whatsoever in any assurances from these scientists, most of which are clueless. I have known too many PhDs that I wouldn't trust to screw in a light-bulb. It's not safe to give them such powerful toys.
or Dan Brown’s “Angels and Demons”
(soon to be released movie...May 2008)
Maybe they could delay this test and conduct it in mecca during the next hajj?
An atom smasher is to a black hole as a match is to the sun. Not too much to worry about.
Said the captain of the Titanic, the Hindenburg and ...........
Inside every black hole is a little man with a flashlight, looking for a fuse box.
My thougths exactly, but, then again, we would all be merged into a singularity....
“Eternity with Nerds! It’s the Pasadena Star Trek Convention all over again!”
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