Large Hadron Collider
From RationalWiki
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a kick ass piece of scientific machinery designed to replicate conditions immediately after the big bang and also to search for other dimensions as predicted by string theory, probe the existence of dark matter and search for the elusive Higgs boson particle which gives matter mass. There are other, smaller projects, to be conducted as aside to the main research. The LHC is located at the CERN facilty and is contained within a 27 kilometre long tunnel that straddles the border between France and Switzerland. The Large Hadron Collider is the largest and most complex scientific instrument ever built and the highest energy particle accelerator in the world.[1] While highly anticipated by many people it has been fraught with delays and budget problems, exceeding six billion dollars in construction costs. All of these have served to make it a major lightning rod for all the various anti-science factions. It has been attacked by everyone from the extremists, such as religious fundamentalist and Illuminati conspiracy theorists, to the mundane, with criticism of its costs and purpose. It was turned on for the first time in September 2008, however it suffered a major fault just 9 days later. It restarted again in late November 2009 and has already set the record as the world's most powerful particle accelerator.[2]
Contents |
[edit] This is all very interesting but how does it work?
.jpg)
Particles enter the LHC through a series of small particle accelerators (in a ring shape), each one pushing the particle closer and closer to the speed of light until they are released into the larger LHC ring. At the same time, another particle is released in the opposite direction. When these particles collide they release enormous amounts of energy. This energy is recorded by four giant detectors called ALICE, CMS, ATLAS and LHCb.[3] All this data is processed using a new system of computing called The Grid. The Grid consists of 80,000 computers in 50 countries all designed to number crunch the huge amounts of data the LHC is expected to produce, which amounts to 15 thousand terabytes (or 15 petabytes) per annum.[4]
[edit] Safety concerns
The lead-up to the switch-on was a cause for concern among people who weren't very good at physics. Some were worried that it would create a black hole and destroy the Earth. Others (who'd probably been watching too much Stargate) posited an alien invasion via an LHC-created wormhole. Another fear was that the entire universe would undergo Total Existence Failure, although this possibility is infinitely improbable.[5]
A further possibility put forward[6] was that the universe would vanish, to be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There are some,[7] however, who think that this has already happened. 42.
[edit] External links
- Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the world yet?
- 30 other days when the world didn't end
- Multimedia gallery at the CERN website
- If you prefer your High-Energy Physics lessons sung to you in rap form, you may find the Large Hadron Supercollider Rap not only educational, but also entertaining.
- Physicist Brian Cox explains the what and why of the LHC in layman's language.
- What the LHC is really for.
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ CEERN LHC website
- ↑ http://news.zdnet.co.uk/emergingtech/0,1000000183,39913351,00.htm
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7534835.stm
- ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/09/07/scicern107.xml
- ↑ Big bang experiment gets under way
- ↑ By this guy
- ↑ this other guy
