Big Bang machine

[huskerXman]

2 major earthquakes since this was restarted? Hmm, crazy I know, but what if?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8371662.stm

The Large Hadron Collider experiment has re-started after a 14-month hiatus while the machine was being repaired.

Engineers have made two stable proton beams circulate in opposite directions around the machine, which is in a tunnel beneath the French-Swiss border.

The team may try to increase the £6bn ($10bn) collider's energy to record-breaking levels this weekend.

The LHC is being used to smash together beams of protons in a bid to shed light on the nature of the Universe.

It is the world's largest machine and is housed in a 27km-long circular tunnel.

During the experiment, scientists will search for signs of the Higgs boson, a sub-atomic particle that is crucial to our current understanding of physics. Although it is predicted to exist, scientists have never found it.

Dozens of giant superconducting magnets that accelerate the particles at almost the speed of light have had to be replaced after faults developed just days after the collider was inaugurated last year.

 

[NUance]

I’m in favor of basic research, but the sums spent on this collider make me wonder whether it’s worth it. That, and I wonder about its usefulness as a research tool.

Trying to understand subatomic particles with a supercollider is like trying to understand how a piano makes music by examining the pieces left after dropping it off the Sears Tower.

 

[knapplc]

It's a hell of a machine, but I'm with nuance - I wonder about the value of the research they're gathering.

I'm as curious as the next guy about where we came from. I've sat in on lectures at Stanford "just for fun" when we lived out there. Saw Brian Greene in person which was awfully cool. I have tons of books at home about physics and I'd be the first to say how cool it was if they decoded the Big Bang. But still... I'm not sure we need to know so bad that we have to spend this kind of scratch on this project, and although all reports say it's going to be safe to use, a part of me can't help but be concerned. There's some pretty serious energy being tossed about by the LHC.

EDIT - this is a heck of a pic:

http://platonicconception.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/lhc.jpg

(warning - very large picture. Not dial-up friendly)

 

[huskerXman]

It's a hell of a machine, but I'm with nuance - I wonder about the value of the research they're gathering.

I'm as curious as the next guy about where we came from. I've sat in on lectures at Stanford "just for fun" when we lived out there. Saw Brian Greene in person which was awfully cool. I have tons of books at home about physics and I'd be the first to say how cool it was if they decoded the Big Bang. But still... I'm not sure we need to know so bad that we have to spend this kind of scratch on this project, and although all reports say it's going to be safe to use, a part of me can't help but be concerned. There's some pretty serious energy being tossed about by the LHC.

That is what I was thinking.. This thing has to be putting out some serious energy. They all say things are safe but in reality they are not.. Just look at the foods we eat, and I'm not talking about Fast food. So many chemicals can not be good for a body PERIOD!

How would they know if it was safe or not it has never been tried before?

 

[knapplc]

It's a hell of a machine, but I'm with nuance - I wonder about the value of the research they're gathering.

I'm as curious as the next guy about where we came from. I've sat in on lectures at Stanford "just for fun" when we lived out there. Saw Brian Greene in person which was awfully cool. I have tons of books at home about physics and I'd be the first to say how cool it was if they decoded the Big Bang. But still... I'm not sure we need to know so bad that we have to spend this kind of scratch on this project, and although all reports say it's going to be safe to use, a part of me can't help but be concerned. There's some pretty serious energy being tossed about by the LHC.

That is what I was thinking.. This thing has to be putting out some serious energy. They all say things are safe but in reality they are not.. Just look at the foods we eat, and I'm not talking about Fast food. So many chemicals can not be good for a body PERIOD!

How would they know if it was safe or not it has never been tried before?

I don't know. They can come pretty close to figuring out what's likely to happen by running the physics of the thing through a simulator. They're not going to make any baby black holes, or if they do they'll eat themselves so fast due to lack of fuel that they won't pose a threat.

When I say I'm "concerned" it's a pretty mild concern. I'm not really worried they're going to blow us all up or anything.

 

[huskerXman]

It's a hell of a machine, but I'm with nuance - I wonder about the value of the research they're gathering.

I'm as curious as the next guy about where we came from. I've sat in on lectures at Stanford "just for fun" when we lived out there. Saw Brian Greene in person which was awfully cool. I have tons of books at home about physics and I'd be the first to say how cool it was if they decoded the Big Bang. But still... I'm not sure we need to know so bad that we have to spend this kind of scratch on this project, and although all reports say it's going to be safe to use, a part of me can't help but be concerned. There's some pretty serious energy being tossed about by the LHC.

That is what I was thinking.. This thing has to be putting out some serious energy. They all say things are safe but in reality they are not.. Just look at the foods we eat, and I'm not talking about Fast food. So many chemicals can not be good for a body PERIOD!

How would they know if it was safe or not it has never been tried before?

I don't know. They can come pretty close to figuring out what's likely to happen by running the physics of the thing through a simulator. They're not going to make any baby black holes, or if they do they'll eat themselves so fast due to lack of fuel that they won't pose a threat.

When I say I'm "concerned" it's a pretty mild concern. I'm not really worried they're going to blow us all up or anything.

understood, and I have no idea if this would actually or could actually affect the earth or not but it made me wonder. That and I don't trust any scientists.

 

[bennychico11]

It's a hell of a machine, but I'm with nuance - I wonder about the value of the research they're gathering.

of course...that's why none of us on Huskerboard are scientists

The machine fascinates me, and if it creates a black hole and sucks all of us hope....awesome! At least I'll be able to witness being sucked up by a black hole. I've always been interested in them!

I like the theory being thrown about that the damages being done to the collider is being caused by someone either not of our space dimension or time. Almost as if something or someone is trying to prevent it from being started. Now that would mess with the mind :wacko: