"One short trip for a proton, but one giant leap for mankind!"

[mckitterick]

The world's largest particle accelerator fired for the first time today successfully - and without destroying the Earth! The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) fired a beam of protons at almost the speed of light through its circular, 17-mile tunnel that passes beneath villages and cow pastures along the French-Swiss border. This is the largest experimental device ever built.

Click the image to see the story.

Researchers intend to use the LHC to recreate post-Big Bang conditions and study the Higgs boson and dark matter. “It’s a fantastic moment,” said LHC project leader Lyn Evans, “we can now look forward to a new era of understanding about the origins and evolution of the universe.”


Click the image to see the story.

And I get to work with one of the CERN researchers, Philip Baringer, for the Spring "Science, Technology, & Society" class.

Cool beans!

Chris

Comments

[will-couvillier.livejournal.com]

...makes me wonder about why there are so many black holes out there.

Perhaps intelligence is the birthing media for a different sort of life.

Humm...wonder if it's not too late to change my workshop story.

[gwyndolin.livejournal.com]

Are we sure it hasn't destroyed the world? I mean, how do we know we're not caught in some event horizon while the universe is collapsing around us?

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

That would be awesome! I guess we'll find out next time we try to launch a space vehicle....

[hlmt.livejournal.com]

W0000000T!!! We lived only a couple of kilometers away from part of the ring--it was/is *fascinating* to hear about what went/goes on there!

[hlmt.livejournal.com]

*LOL*

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Neat!

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Heh; perhaps advanced technological civilizations end not with a boom but rather a whooshing collapse into singularity.

[sarahbrand.livejournal.com]

Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the world yet?

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Heeeee!

[skyflame.livejournal.com]

This is one of the few times I'm sorry I don't get the CERN newsletter anymore.

[queza7.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the google logo today? Is teh awesome.

I wish I could have had an 'end of the world' party last night. I need to keep up on my news beter. ;)

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

But it is the collisions that have the possibility of forming the black holes. AFAIK, they're not scheduled until October. This was just a test track drive. Why are knowledgeable people heaving sighs of a relief, crocodilian though they may be?

[steve98052.livejournal.com]

Thank you for pointing that out! Very cool.

And Chris, how cool that you work with a CERN researcher.

[dynezola.livejournal.com]

haa. I like his coding.

can't forget the LHC webcam

[roya-spirit.livejournal.com]

^
What he said.