Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Large Hadron Collider.


Good morning. On the off chance that the world ends tomorow, or that we are all sucked directly into a black hole I just want to say it's been a pleasure.
Of course there's always the possibility that nowt will happen, I mean can a particle accelerator really mimic the beginnings of life? Dunno, science dunnos niether, but it will be interesting to see what they discover.

"The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will fire particles around its 17-mile tunnel. It will then smash protons — one of the building blocks of matter — into each other at energies up to seven times greater than any achieved before.

Scientists hope to recapture conditions not seen since near the birth of the universe almost 14 billion years ago. They could find answers to some of the biggest questions in physics, such as why the universe looks the way it does, and how to explain mass, gravity and mysterious "dark matter".

They could also find the first evidence of extra spatial dimensions, and even create mini-black holes that blink in and out of existence in a fraction of a second.

Some sceptics remain unconvinced about its safety. Prof Otto Rossler, a German chemist who is one of a group of scientists attempting a last-minute court challenge to the project, is especially worried about the creation of black holes.

He believes it is possible that the black holes will grow uncontrollably and "eat the planet from the inside".

Other scientists say this is complete nonsense. They point to the fact that cosmic rays hitting the Earth's atmosphere should also be creating mini-black holes. Yet to date none of them has swallowed up the planet."

Yep, I most surely do hope we don't get 'eaten up'. You would have to question the safety of experiments like this. I'm no scientist, but I do have a vested interest in remaining upright and breathing and entirely uneaten.

Labels:

19 Comments:

Blogger Jo said...

Ee. I just wonder, do we need this? Would the billions it no doubt cost not be better spent on allieviating poverty, homelessness, curing disease, creating ways to heal the environment?

It jsut seems like playing to me.

9:16 a.m.  
Blogger fatmammycat said...

It's a strange one all right Jo. And I'm not sure I am entirely comfortable with it.

9:19 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe all the crashing and colliding of matter will produce some little new beings who will do all the horrible jobs like cleaning the loo and cleaning away cobwebs, then finish the day giving me a nice neck massage - someone a bit like that little house elf creature in Harry Potter.

10:28 a.m.  
Blogger Manuel said...

the only thing that worries me is the guy in charge of the whole dealy......he is the former keyboard player for D/ream...."things can only get better" etc......actually I'm not sure there was any "etc"

he also said "Anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a twat,"

11:31 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just want to drive it, once.

11:40 a.m.  
Blogger morgor said...

ah man, must be like the experiments part of doing physics or chemistry for the leaving cert.

All the boring bits then you get to do something interesting.

I'd say all those scientists have creamed their pants by now.

11:50 a.m.  
Blogger Andraste said...

Have to say I'm not too worried about the world imploding or anything like that. And if this can REALLY replicate events from the big bang, we can learn SO much from it. Though, like Jo, I see this kind of price tag and wonder how much misery could have been alleviated with this much cash. Still...I can't wait to see what discoveries come of it.

12:09 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Would the billions it no doubt cost not be better spent on alleviating poverty, homelessness, curing disease, creating ways to heal the environment?

Actually that's part of the deal. One aspect is studying ways to more precisely target cancer killing radioactive beams so they pass through healthy areas without causing damage.

There are others.

Anyway, if none of it works they can always fill the big tunnel with homeless people.

12:13 p.m.  
Blogger Unknown said...

I think the most likely discovery will be... "We... ahem... made a big mistake. Sorry."


Now if they could give us ten days without rain that would be an achievement.

12:16 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fucking Romanians, what sort of scam will they think of next

12:33 p.m.  
Blogger fatmammycat said...

We have created...a lot of fuss! Huzzah. I'm with Shebah, I want them to create someone who enjoys cleaning and super enjoys answering phones.

12:44 p.m.  
Blogger sliabh said...

jothemama, CERN (who run the LHC) needed an information processing system to handle a previous accelerator they have. As a result Tim Berners Less came up with the World Wide Web.

If you do fundamental research, it can be expensive, but time after tiem it delivers day to day benefits that weren't obvious when you started.

From a personal point of view, if they do destroy the world I plan to sue their asses...

3:27 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the thing's dead exciting. Like Sneezy said, the sort of information it could reveal, foreseen and unforeseen, could be immensely useful in all sorts of areas, also foreseen and unforeseen. So many of the great discoveries of mankind have been incidental to other projects.

It is playing alright though, but doesn't the best work often happen when people are playing at something so absorbedly.

As long as we don't get absorbed, I'm cool with it. And even then, we wouldn't know a thing about it. One moment we'd be having a meal/a think/ an argument/a pee, and the next... Elton John. Nothing.

5:46 p.m.  
Blogger fatmammycat said...

Eep!

10:36 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well I have been most interested in the press and commentary. No wonder that the scientists laugh at you. Can you program your TIVO? Probably not. Got a blinking microwave clock still? You're idiots.

I suppose that most of the luddites believe that scientists are irrational funsters, busying themselves with whatever pleases them. Really. Forty years of development and 7,000 scientists may, who diligently follow their disciplined processes unlike nearly any other human professional, may actually know what they are doing. C'mon folks this is not a Chevy Volt from the factory -- this is the biggest scientific experiment ever. Why do wee need to do this? Because we need to prove theory that will close the chains of questions surrounding mass. Everything we know in other words. Yes the money could well have been spent otherwise, but does it ever get spent, really? It never will. However, this project may reveal information which will improve our human existence. That's worth it if we can jump out of the physics and science that, unfinished, goes back before Einstein. Good luck CERN and let's go forth, bravely.

3:37 a.m.  
Blogger Mindstorm1 said...

I am really looking forward to it . Either we find the Higgs Boson Field and invent 'Time Travel' or we in a few hours become particles floating in a sea of pure energy . Whatever happens it's got us all talking and stopped us from being boring for a few hours . Sounds like a plan!!! .

6:23 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just because you sound like a computer does not mean your intelligent. Hawkin's theories regarding blackholes have been proven false years ago.
Why on earth does the media still take stock in his computer voice?
Also, I did not know that Hawkin was an economic expert as well.. Sometimes I wonder if his thoughts and voice is not comming from somewhere else... Hard to believe that someone deemed intelligent or genius (cough cough ...) would determine that starving, sick and underprivledged people "less than human".

7:53 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

At this time it appears like BlogEngine is the top blogging platform out there right now.
(from what I've read) Is that what you're using on your blog?


My website :: bankruptcy in florida

8:10 p.m.  
Blogger Unknown said...

To have a better hype for your facebook account, Persons expend funds to buy Facebook Followers to conveniently have hype online.

1:35 p.m.  

Post a Comment

<< Home