[Stealth3si]

CERN’s Large Hadron Collider - Hmm… how to go about making this sound as interesting as it actually is. Okay, think Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons if you want a popular reference. This is where they were in the beginning. CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research and it is where the future happens basically.

It is in essence a particle accelerator that is the closest thing we have on today’s earth to simulating what started it all. The collider is basically a 27km circular tunnel that runs underground and is an absolute modern marvel of this age. I can’t even imagine the minds behind this thing.

If I remember right, it was sealed-off last month and the experiment to create the simulation of a black hole began. When it is/was up and running, it will be capable of creating the conditions that existed just a billionth of a second after the Big Bang. Professors and scientists hope that the LHC will change our understanding of the early universe and solve some of its mysteries.

Perhaps this means we can finally test and do experiments on the Big Bang!

Wow.

[Moon Boots]

As part of my physics course I got to meet some of the people that are working on this. They were really excited.







Who can blame them?

[nate95366]

I think it's going to be incredible what comes out of LHC experimentation. Hopefully I'll be able to understand some of it.

Nate

[Ax]

Originally Posted by Stealth3si

CERN’s Large Hadron Collider - Hmm… how to go about making this sound as interesting as it actually is. Okay, think Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons if you want a popular reference. This is where they were in the beginning. CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research and it is where the future happens basically.

It is in essence a particle accelerator that is the closest thing we have on today’s earth to simulating what started it all. The collider is basically a 27km circular tunnel that runs underground and is an absolute modern marvel of this age. I can’t even imagine the minds behind this thing.

If I remember right, it was sealed-off last month and the experiment to create the simulation of a black hole began. When it is/was up and running, it will be capable of creating the conditions that existed just a billionth of a second after the Big Bang. Professors and scientists hope that the LHC will change our understanding of the early universe and solve some of its mysteries.

Perhaps this means we can finally test and do experiments on the Big Bang!

Wow.

Wrong. This has nothing to do with the big bang. The point of a particle accelerator is to create miniature black holes that would exist less than a nanosecond. I don't know where this idea that it would create conditions similar to the big bang came from but it's ridiculous.

It didn't work, btw.

[tlj009]

It didn't work, btw.

What didn't work? I thought they have only done a few tests.

[Ax]

Originally Posted by tlj009

What didn't work? I thought they have only done a few tests.

The first test was to create a black hole.. so far they've not done so and that test may not be replicated again for some time.

[thesteve]

Originally Posted by AX

The first test was to create a black hole.. so far they've not done so and that test may not be replicated again for some time.

My understanding is that it was just turned on a few days ago and that full experiments won't be run for several weeks

I also haven't read anything about the LHC being used to generate black holes but rather to collide protons in order to generate the Higgs Boson. From what I've read the initial test runs of the LHC have been considered a success.

[Stealth3si]

Originally Posted by AX

Wrong. This has nothing to do with the big bang. The point of a particle accelerator is to create miniature black holes that would exist less than a nanosecond. I don't know where this idea that it would create conditions similar to the big bang came from but it's ridiculous. It didn't work, btw.

Maybe because that’s what every media outlet, and the scientists at CERN themselves have been saying…

And --- completely wrong, the point of ALICE isn’t to make tiny black holes, that is a very slim chance and a side effect of recreating the CONDITIONS of the beginning of the universe to within seconds of the bang happening. It’s also working perfectly but since it won’t actually get up to doing a full power collision until next year it isn’t all that interesting yet.

It'd be much appreciated if some research was done before having a unfounded go at someone whose blurb agrees with the BBC’s own website.

[FTS]

Originally Posted by thesteve

My understanding is that it was just turned on a few days ago and that full experiments won't be run for several weeks

I also haven't read anything about the LHC being used to generate black holes but rather to collide protons in order to generate the Higgs Boson. From what I've read the initial test runs of the LHC have been considered a success.

That's my understanding of it all as well. But then again, that doesn't mean a whole lot

[slap_j]

Originally Posted by thesteve

I also haven't read anything about the LHC being used to generate black holes but rather to collide protons in order to generate the Higgs Boson.

I read that Stephen Hawking bet $100 that they wouldn't find it.

[thesteve]

Originally Posted by Stealth3si

Maybe because that’s what every media outlet, and the scientists at CERN themselves have been saying…

And --- completely wrong, the point of ALICE isn’t to make tiny black holes, that is a very slim chance and a side effect of recreating the CONDITIONS of the beginning of the universe to within seconds of the bang happening. It’s also working perfectly but since it won’t actually get up to doing a full power collision until next year it isn’t all that interesting yet.

It'd be much appreciated if some research was done before having a unfounded go at someone whose blurb agrees with the BBC’s own website.

Where are you reading that it's purpose is to recreate the conditions just moments after the/a big bang? I haven't seen that anywhere. If you're going to criticize someone for disagreeing with a person that "agrees with the BBC's own website" then it would be more than useful to actually provide the BBC website you're referring to.

Originally Posted by slap_j

I read that Stephen Hawking bet $100 that they wouldn't find it.

I read that too. Apparently even though he thinks they will find it, he's betting that they won't because he thinks it'd be more scientifically interesting.

oh and it was 100 pounds I think...which is closer to $200 USD...not that it matters.

[Ax]

Originally Posted by thesteve

My understanding is that it was just turned on a few days ago and that full experiments won't be run for several weeks

I also haven't read anything about the LHC being used to generate black holes but rather to collide protons in order to generate the Higgs Boson. From what I've read the initial test runs of the LHC have been considered a success.

My physics professor gave us a bit of a run down on it. She said everything so far has been a failure but she's not the most sane person in the world.

Originally Posted by Stealth3si

Maybe because that’s what every media outlet, and the scientists at CERN themselves have been saying…

And --- completely wrong, the point of ALICE isn’t to make tiny black holes, that is a very slim chance and a side effect of recreating the CONDITIONS of the beginning of the universe to within seconds of the bang happening. It’s also working perfectly but since it won’t actually get up to doing a full power collision until next year it isn’t all that interesting yet.

It'd be much appreciated if some research was done before having a unfounded go at someone whose blurb agrees with the BBC’s own website.

I know wikipedia isn't considered a hugely accurate source but if you check the sources for both of these pages it gives more than an accurate overview of what's going on. NOWHERE does it mention big bang.

I was wrong. I admit that. But a possible side affect that they are wanting to happen and study is the tiny black hole. They wont be recreating the conditions because to have those conditions you'd have to pack every bit of possible mass ever in existance into a singularity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_accelerator

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider

[Wesley7777]

I am quite excited about what is going to come out of this, i know one of our profs is over there working on the detectors.

[Stealth3si]

Ha.

Just reading about the success of the initial test filled me w/ like 1,100 TeV of energy!

Believe me, there won't be enough liquid helium in the world to cool me down, even if ALICE's collision yields the expected QGP.

[Fred_space]

It has never been the aim of the LHC to create black holes, though its a very unlikely possibilty that they may be created, though like you said they would evaporate in a split second.

There are 4 large experiemnts that are going to take place, one of these is to look for the Higgs boson, very important as it will make or break most of particle physics.
Another detector will be looking at lead ions colliding to try and recreate the conditions just after the big band to try and understand how the universe was created.

So far all they have done is test beams going round the accellerator, though there was a fire thats delayed everything for a few weeks. No failures yet as there have been no collisions.

If you can forgive the cheesiness this rap preduced by CERN does explain what the LHC is about!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM