Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Large Hadron Collider

Ok so this is not at all feminism related but the research nerd in me needed to share this because it is so fucking cool!

Here's a taste:
"If all goes according to plan, the Large Hadron Collider, a gigantic particle accelerator underground near Geneva, could re-create the very moment 13 billion years ago when scientists believe a tremendous explosion known as the 'big bang' created the universe."


9 comments:

shrink on the couch said...

I heard about this collider on NPR (and google is honoring it as well, did you see?) I never took any physics so I'm really clueless, but some of the projected uses are mind boggling. And yeah, cool as hell.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad someone other than me is excited about this!

- Mia

Aviva DV said...

You might enjoy this, then:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM

DJ Dual Core said...

Has anybody asked themselves whether or not duplicating the big bang is a good idea?

That said, particle accelerators are inherently cool...kind of like motorcycles but with the whole subatomic thing going on.

Anonymous said...

sigh.... dj dual core-you are like totally whacked okay -like how can duplicating the big bang NOT be a good idea? yeah yeah reality gobbling black hole monsters-tears in the space time continuam-like whatever okay? ( said in best clueless voice)
and that motorcycle analogy is like soooooo NOT-it's like really good shoes only at the subatomic particle level-peace!

therapydoc said...

Wow!

Anonymous said...

but what happens to us when there's another big bang?

DJ Dual Core said...

:-) Ya. I'm just a Luddite. ;-)

I'm willing to assume the people who actually understand this stuff have thought through the consequences of creating a (relatively small) black hole. It is a pretty mind blowing idea, however, when you consider that black holes are (strongly) theoretically implied but have never been directly observed.

The whole thing is pretty exciting. Every time we break down matter into smaller pieces or examine it under more extreme conditions we learn something about ourselves. That's cool.

Anonymous said...

As my brother knoched around Brookhaven for a couple years making black holes, I am in full support of this.

I don't like the way that they keep mentioning in stories that there are so many American physicists there without mentioning that the Bush administration has cut funding and shut down most of the physics labs in this country.