CERN's Large Hadron Collider creates 10 million Big Bangs in a week! What in the world could all that mean? Lets try to break it down together, because I'd like to understand it too.
DIFFERENT REALITIES ABOUT REALITY
It looks like scientists have become divided on the nature of existence or, at least, the nature of matter.
To me, it sounds like Einstein described energy and matter one way. Einstein's theories describe the science of large matter (like universes). The newer disciplines of quantum physics, which deals with the behavior of atomic, and smaller, matter, tend to describe energy and matter another way.
According to my (light) reading, they (the scientists) want it both ways or, at least, a convergence / connection of the now-disparate theories. So they are trying to find evidence of a sub atomic particle called the Higgs Boson Particle.
To me, it sounds like Einstein described energy and matter one way. Einstein's theories describe the science of large matter (like universes). The newer disciplines of quantum physics, which deals with the behavior of atomic, and smaller, matter, tend to describe energy and matter another way.
According to my (light) reading, they (the scientists) want it both ways or, at least, a convergence / connection of the now-disparate theories. So they are trying to find evidence of a sub atomic particle called the Higgs Boson Particle.
The short story on this Higgs Boson object is that Scottish physicist Peter Higgs, who calculated that this object must exist, also postulated that this particle makes it possible for matter (created by the Big Bang) to take on mass (the universe, and its elements). And, of course, the obligitory scientific mantra: "the origin of life". More about the Big Bang here.
They hope they will find evidence of the elusive Higgs Boson in a mini Big Bang and begin measuring and categorizing it. Then they hope to connect this object with causality of why matter takes on actual form, or mass (with image, weight, gravity, etc.).
IN SEARCH OF DARK MATTER
Scientists also think that there is not enough matter in the observable universe. So they are looking for something they call "dark matter". Some also think that measurements of this collision and big bang condition generated, might lead further in the direction of dark matter studies. There's more about dark matter here.
If you are a multi-universe, multi-dimensional kind of person; this is definitely the thing to keep an eye on. I hope these guys know what they are doing. I wonder what the unexpected would yeild on this one!
So they started working on developing a "collider technology" as long ago as 1954. Those years of work have finally come to fruition in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) built and administered by CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research). Looking over a time line of this technology's development, one can see that it was a long succession of developments.
THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER
The LHC is basically a 17 mile underground ring which straddles the Swiss / French border. It is an enormous underground tunnel which is refrigerated to incredibly low temperatures (minus 456.3 degrees Fahrenheit). Beams of streaming protons are injected into this "ring" at a speed of 99.999% of the speed of light.
The hoped-for collision would result in an explosion (or mini Big Bang) of 7 Terra Electron Volts (TeV). A Terra equals a million, million, by the way. Also, it says here, that this 7TeV explosion also generates temperatures that are 100,000 times the heat of our Sun. With that in mind, -456.3 degree environment sounds like a positive step. The equipment in the LHC will also measure time, during these experiments, down to the billionth of a second.
I was recently listening to a radio program where a scientist explained (in defense of the project), that these collisions being strived for, happen all the time in nature. The problem is being near a collision, while they are happening all over nature. OK. That explanation was good for me. But let me try to hang all this together in one scene.
OK, so we have billions and billions and billions and billions of protons travelling at just sub-light speed, in two directions. And they are trying to make these particles crash into each other to create mini Big Bangs at temperatures exceeding our Sun by 100,000 times, while looking for anti matter, dark matter, parallel universes and (my words) the nature of the fabric of existence, itself.
They have accomplished 10 million of these explosions in a week's time. But these guys are hoping to generate 600 million proton collisions per second. Can you imagine how much unadulterated energy will be unleashed? It sounds like a Superman adventure, with the international scientists and huge amounts of power. I just hope the bad guys don't escape from the Phantom Zone.
Big Rob Loves
Your Computer
This is one of the software titles that I just outright buy. I always make sure I have it installed. In the early days, these people were the only ones who could defrag an NT formatted drive. They know what they are doing. Frankly, I am NOT a fan of Windows Defrag.
Download a free trial!