Haldron Collider...is the world going to end tomorrow?

[Frog]

Heard about this a while back but then forgot about it until it was on news this morning.

I haven't read even this whole article but will by sometime tonight.

I figure if its going to create a black hole that swallows the earth, there isn't much I can do about it, anyway. If it works as they hope, it may lead to some interesting and even startling revelations.

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2...sons-that.html

[RP Racing]

Get ready for anti-matter powered vehicles.

[photonature]

Will anti-matter powered vehicles really work in that case?

[SmartWombat]

For those of you not old enough to remember, the first Atomic tests raised fears that the entire atmosphere would be ignited by the weapon.

We're still here.

[Anbesol]

Still, dont you think it would be best if human beings just forgot about nuclear technology? Left it as a relic of an unknown past?

[SmartWombat]

Nope.
We can't go on with fossil fuels.
Unless you want go back to hunter-gatherers and grunting in caves.

OK that might be over-stating it a little.
But what would it do to society without electricity, diesel, fertilisers ?
Supportable earth human population would plummet.
Travel would grind to a halt.
As would the world economy as we know it.
What would you do without supermarkets and ATMs?

No thanks, give me the lightning !
I think that fission is of limited life, but the French probably have the right idea today.
But the future of power lies with fusion I think.
Renewables will only get us so far, not far enough.

Anti-matter can't be produced, or used, in significant amounts.
It takes so much energy too, that TANSTAAFL* makes it unfeasible.

If we can get beamed sun generated power form orbit, and room temperature superconductors to transmit it, then there is a possibility of humanity's power problems being solved, a long with fossil fuel's contribution to global warming.

But everything uses resources, nothing is carbon neutral, until you replace diesel driven construction plant with something else. Even then the raw materials don't get out of the ground on their own, follow it back far enough there's always a carbon trail.
So until there is a magical** replacement for fossil fuel, we're stuck with it.


* There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
** Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

[SmartWombat]

I figure if its going to create a black hole that swallows the earth, there isn't much I can do about it, anyway.

At the moment in they're in the testing phase.
Can they get the magnets working to send a beam of protons round the ring?
Can they get the magnets working to send a beam of protons round the ring the other way?
Do the detectors work, can they see the beams?
All run at low energy, far below the Fermilab Tevatron.

At the moment it's not even a beam, just one bunch (yes, technical term) of protons.

Once they can get two beams running at once, in opposite directions, and not hitting each other - then the next step is to focus the beams and increase the speed/energy.

This is just the commissioning phase.

After that, they can start colliding them at low/medium energy and proving the detectors and computing systems by reproducing existing experiments at known energies.

They are months away from actually making even a small bang.


Eventually they will turn it up to 11 and do some new science, once it's proven the equipment works.

Just think what's going to happen if something breaks.
Even with one beam at 99.999999% of lightspeed, the energy involved in that is huge and if the steering magnets fail, those particles are going to smash into the equipment and trash it.
That's why they have a massively redundant beam dump system, that turns a block of graphite into a hot mess. But preserves the rather expensive main system.

The beam itself is about the thickness of a human hair but in a lower energy failure in the past drilled through a protective block and took a 10 metre chunk out of another one.

[Jaedon]

I keep having dreams of the video game HalfLife over and over again when I think of this experiment.........weird

That and the movie The Mist....weirder.

[Canuck935]

Everyone is worried about black holes. That's too boring. I'm hoping for alternate dimensions and such.. Zombie/alien/robot apocalypse, here we come!!

[SmartWombat]

The BBC based an episode of Torchwood at CERN:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio...ernoonplay_wed

[mjs1973]

If anyone wants a crash course in what the Haldron Collider is all about, check out this video.

[susaan]

When I was a wee nipper,my "Uncle Derek"from next door, moved to Switzerland (Bern?)
to photograph the atom,splitting.
I remember being very impressed with his explanation of this,it may have even started my interest in the art of photography-anyone know how this is done?

[Skyman]

First you get a chisel.....

The apocalypse has been put off for at least six months. apparently the LHC was leaking helium, so it needed to be thawed out (this alone will take a long time) the magnets checked and the seal fixed then chilled back to operating temperature. I suspect that the first actual collision will happen without the media knowing and then they will have a grand opening.

[susaan]

Hahaha
-I meant the photography process..as a kid,I thought he just stood there with a camera lol

[SmartWombat]

I thought he just stood there with a camera

If you're using a cloud chamber, you can.
http://www.cosmicrays.org/muon-cloud-chamber.php
Fancy some DIY ?

I don't think they're allowed to do it in schools any more, health and safety ...
Back in my day they actually used an isotope to get reliable results (plenty of radiation!) but I think that's not allowed any more.
But you're not splitting the atom yourself, just watching natural radioactive decay.