The Search For The 'God Particle'

[zavvy]

<b>The Search For The 'God Particle'</b><br /><br />LINK<br /><br />At the foot of the Jura Mountains, where Switzerland meets France, is a laboratory so vast it boggles the mind. <br /><br />But take a drive past the open fields, traditional chalets and petite new apartment blocks and you will look for it in vain. <br /><br />To find this enormous complex, you have to travel beneath the surface. <br /><br />One hundred metres below Geneva's western suburbs is a dimly lit tunnel that runs in a perfect circle for 27km (17 miles). <br /><br />The tunnel belongs to Cern, the European Centre for Nuclear Research. Though currently empty, over the next two years an enormous experiment will be installed here. <br /><br />The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a powerful and impossibly complicated machine that will smash particles together at super-fast speeds in a bid to unlock the secrets of the Universe. <br /><br />'New physics' <br /><br />By recreating the searing-hot conditions fractions of a second after the Big Bang, scientists hope to see new physics, discover the sought-after "God particle", uncover new dimensions and even generate mini-black holes. <br /><br />When completed, two parallel tubes will carry high-energy particles called protons in opposite directions around the tunnel at close to the speed of light. <br /><br />The tunnel's huge circumference provides only the slightest of bends. Nevertheless, 5,000 superconducting magnets are needed to steer and focus the particles around the tubes.<br /><br />"When the coils are energised there is one jumbo jet - 500 tonnes - pushing outwards," says LHC project leader Lyn Evans. <br /><br />Along the way, the proton beams will pass through enormous experimental instruments called detectors where they will cross. <br /><br />When some of these protons collide at high energy, smaller, heavier particles can appear amongst the debris. <br /><br />Great quest <br /><br />W

 

[vogon13]

Was very impressed with Tevetron 25 years ago. Next generation collider will of course be way higher on 'whiz bang' scale. Can see a future collider built in space at one of the LeGrange positions. Handy to have all of space (less earth) as your beam dump. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[zavvy]

Let's hope they know what they're doing, eh?