LHC Activation imminent

[thomasantony]

I better go get my crowbar.

 

[pete.dakota]

First beam in the LHC - accelerating science: The first beam was switched on, it went around...and nothing much happened! :huh: The actual collisions won't take place for a while yet.

Yeah. Ignore pretty much every news headline you see about 'stuff happening'. Just a beam test. No collisions 'til after October, at least.

 

[Andy44]

Sadly, the stupid sensationalists are now party to a young girl's death:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26641652/

Indian girl commits suicide over 'Big Bang' fear

In India, fears about the experiment spread rapidly through the media

-----Posted Added-----


Also, check out the www.google.com page, today, it's got an LHC theme.

 

[Urwumpe]

Sadly, the stupid sensationalists are now party to a young girl's death:

Too bad it is not possible to accuse them of murder.

 

[Suzy]

The Large Hadron Collider MEGATHREAD / FAQ has lots of info about the LHC.

 

[golden_eye]

Well the world still exists

Oh bugger, I guess I have to go to work today after all.

 

[RisingFury]

Here's a video and a rough explanation of how this works.
Don't worry if you're not a physicist, you'll still understand


Just for a comparison of the energies here:

Each of these protons flying around the LHC will have 7 TeV. Now, to most of you won't don't study Physics, that doesn't mean much, so I'll trow in something you can understand: You know those big nuclear power plants?
Each reaction in the core produces about 200 MeV.

That is 35 000 times less energy then the super-fast protons in the LHC will have.

 

[Woo482]

so if this creates mini black holes what will happen to us ? I read some wear that they would be to small to eat matter

EDIT1: what will the power of the collideing protons be ? 14 TeV ?

 

[Deke]

so if this creates mini black holes what will happen to us ? I read some wear that they would be to small to eat matter

EDIT1: what will the power of the collideing protons be ? 14 TeV ?

We're talking mini blackholes with the same energy of a mosquito, so nothing. Besides if I recall correctly, a blackhole of any size can only consume as much mass as it's own and then it fizzles out. That's even IF one is created, which the idea of that is itself not proven by those who thought it up.

 

[Woo482]

ok then (if they kill me I will kill them (Dont ask me how) )

 

[Urwumpe]

Each of these protons flying around the LHC will have 7 TeV. Now, to most of you won't don't study Physics, that doesn't mean much, so I'll trow in something you can understand: You know those big nuclear power plants?
Each reaction in the core produces about 200 MeV.

That is 35 000 times less energy then the super-fast protons in the LHC will have.

Yes, but you should also mention some other statistics:

- The whole power produced by the collisions per second is 2.26 kW. The power of a Vespa Scooter engine.

- The highest measured energy of a particle was the "Oh my god" particle, measured in 1991. A proton from another galaxy, hitting the detector at 300,000,000 TeV. 20,000,000 times more powerful as the LHC collisions.

People already thought it must have been an anomaly because it was much stronger as protons in nature should be able to become. But then, other measurements of such cosmic rays confirmed the event. It existed.

Also, the LHC homepage has a really good explanation of the scale of one TeV.

One TeV is the kinetic energy of a mosquito.

 

[Woo482]

2.26 kW ? thats low it looks like we are not getting a new power source from LHC collisions

 

[Urwumpe]

2.26 kW ? thats low it looks like we are not getting a new power source from LHC collisions

No, but maybe ideas how to make existing ideas for power sources more effective and produce more power.

Also, the total energy inside a beam is not really low - it contains the same kinetic energy as TGV high speed train at 150 km/h.

http://lhc-machine-outreach.web.cern.ch/lhc-machine-outreach/beam.htm

But it is a scientific experiment - no weapon and no power generator.

 

[Deke]

Also, the LHC homepage has a really good explanation of the scale of one TeV.

One TeV is the kinetic energy of a mosquito.

So in Layman's terms,

We'll be throwing 14 mosquitos at each other at near the speed of light? Correct?

 

[Urwumpe]

We'll be throwing 14 mosquitos at each other at near the speed of light? Correct?

No.

We'll just be throwing 14 mosquitos at each other. The collision effects comes from the concentration of the energy on just two protons.

 

[Deke]

No.

We'll just be throwing 14 mosquitos at each other. The collision effects comes from the concentration of the energy on just two protons.

I see.

So then why are people making up this doomsday crap? Attention?

 

[Urwumpe]

I see.

So then why are people making up this doomsday crap? Attention?

Mostly attention, but there is also a real scientific theory allowing the production of black holes.

But the theory only works out, when black holes are instable and evaporate.

 

[garyw]

webcams at LHC -> http://www.cyriak.co.uk/lhc/lhc-webcams.html

 

[Woo482]

BLACK HOLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[RisingFury]

Black holes are created when something as massive as a star bigger then our sun collapses on itself. Only such huge mass can create a force large enough to sustain a black hole.


Gravity falls by square distance. Means if you increase your distance from a mess body by a factor of 2, the gravitational force will fall by a factor of 4. That means that gravity "fades away" quite rapidly.

For a comparison... there is so much space within the atom... if the core of the atom was as big as a basket ball, it's nearest electron would be several kilometers (1 mile = 1.6 km) away.

In addition to that, they're only firing protons along the LHC. That's because they have a charge and they can be propelled by electrical and magnetic forces. But that also means that they repel each other (they're all charged positively so they repel - just like two north poles of magnets). And given that gravity is the weakest of the four fundamental forces, it can easily overpower the pull of gravity, even if the protons do get heavier.

It would take some really really incredible distribution of the protons... probably a very symmetrical one to produce any chance of them clumping together and even begin to create a black hole. So I think you people can sleep well at night