Energising the quest for 'big theory'

[FLO]

About 100m below ground, in a tunnel that runs in a ring for 27km (17 miles), the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is being assembled from its constituent parts like a vast, impossibly complex Meccano set.

When it is switched on for a pilot run in summer 2007, this huge physics experiment will collide two beams of particles head-on at super-fast speeds, recreating the conditions in the Universe moments after the Big Bang.

The beam collisions should create showers of new particles, revealing new physics beyond the Standard Model. In order for that to happen, the LHC needs to reach much higher energies than previous colliders.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4524132.stm

[Jamie]

Looks like the inside of a Borg cube.

Here is a thought.

What if there was something just like the universe we now live in

and at a point in time (pre big bang) some scientists thought "hey why don't we

make two beams of particles collide"

What if THEY created the big bang by mistake?

Yeh silly i know but its just a thought.

[FLO]

I've got to admit, that thing scares me.

Me too,

I heard that when they first attempted this experiment, they were so uncertain of the possible outcome that the World leaders got together to decide wether it was worth the risk of taking out the entire planet/solar system!!!

Steve

[Mick.G.]

I remember reading somewhere,that it was a rather BIG BANG.

[Astroman]

There really is nothing to be afraid of here. Colliding particles in the accellerators are typically single protons or neutrons. Their constituent parts are then studied and the energies released are connected to the particles observed. The Big Bang in theory contained all the mass now known in the universe. Even though the energies used are extremely high, higher than anything so far generated by man, there is insufficient mass to release anything like what was relesaed in the original Big Bang.

Remember-the goal is to study the subatomic parts of individual protons or neutrons. Many "particles" are actually just charge carriers and not physical entities at all, sort of like photons of different energies. No big deal. The reason the "machine" is so big is it takes a lot of energy to release these individual photons for study.

Don't worry! It's all good.

[FLO]

Don't worry! It's all good.

Thanks Astroman... No need to finish the bunker then

[daz]

Too late Steve

Tinned Carrots are being shipped in as I type :?

[Greg]

........and powdered egg!