Large Hadron Collider

[Bob_the_lost]

Strange beast a photon, no mass but does have energy.

Yes but it's far more fun than that! You'll have heard of E=MC^2.

People think of it as a conversion formula, one lump of matter converted into energy would give this much energy off. It's more than that, it says that matter is energy, like ice is still water but in a different form. Matter is energy, energy is matter. Get a powerful enough torch and the beam of light itself will bend light that passes it just like a massive stellar body like a black hole. Shine enough photons into one area and you can make a black hole.

Because of that formula it's possible to see that a photon does have mass, of a sort.

 

[dirtyfruit]

I love the way they don't know what's going to happen. Infact, the worst result would be for nothing to happen!

 

[Sasaferrato]

Yes but it's far more fun than that! You'll have heard of E=MC^2.

People think of it as a conversion formula, one lump of matter converted into energy would give this much energy off. It's more than that, it says that matter is energy, like ice is still water but in a different form. Matter is energy, energy is matter. Get a powerful enough torch and the beam of light itself will bend light that passes it just like a massive stellar body like a black hole. Shine enough photons into one area and you can make a black hole.

Because of that formula it's possible to see that a photon does have mass, of a sort.

You are causing my brain to hurt.

 

[zoltan]

My friend is on a team that is calibrating the magnets.

I met an engineer in Paris WC '98 who was on his way to this. he was an appalling piss artist

 

[vauxhallmum]

I might be a million miles off, but I think my Dad works in a complex with a Hadron Collider, near Abingdon?

Can you give him a ring? Ask him if he's there and if he can answer all these questions so we can sleep tonight?

 

[weltweit]

Its a typical basic experiment this collider thingy ...

Smash things together as hard as you can and see what happens!

Except that in this case the things being smashed are absolutely mind bendingly tiny and the thing doing the smashing is flipping humungously enormous.

 

[weltweit]

..

Safety concerns

Concerns have been raised that performing collisions at previously unexplored energies might unleash new and disastrous phenomena. These include the production of micro black holes, and strangelets. Such issues were raised in connection with the RHIC accelerator, both in the media[13][14] and in the scientific community [15]; however, after detailed studies, scientists reached such conclusions as "beyond reasonable doubt, heavy-ion experiments at RHIC will not endanger our planet"[16] and that there is "powerful empirical evidence against the possibility of dangerous strangelet production" [17]. One simple argument against such fears is that collisions at these energies (and higher) have been happening in nature for millennia without hazardous effects, as Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays impact Earth's atmosphere and other bodies in the universe[18]. CERN's review concludes, after detailed analysis, that "there is no basis for any conceivable threat" from strangelets, black holes, or monopoles [19][20] .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider

 

[Dillinger4]

I met an engineer in Paris WC '98 who was on his way to this. he was an appalling piss artist

heh



If you knew my friend, you would not hold much hope for the future of humanity not being inside a black hole.

 

[_pH_]

I love this stuff

ALICE:

# Size: 26 m long, 16 m high, 16 m wide
# Weight: 10 000 tonnes
# Design: central barrel plus single arm forward muon spectrometer

ATLAS:

# Size: 46 m long, 25 m high and 25 m wide. The ATLAS detector is the largest volume particle detector ever constructed.
# Weight: 7000 tonnes
# Design: barrel plus end caps

CMS:

# Size: 21 m long, 15 m wide and 15 m high.
# Weight: 12 500 tonnes
# Design: barrel plus end caps

LHCb:

# Size: 21m long, 10m high and 13m wide
# Weight: 5600 tonnes
# Design: forward spectrometer with planar detectors

Wow.

And it's all underground.

Double wow.

 

[ChrisFilter]

Can you give him a ring? Ask him if he's there and if he can answer all these questions so we can sleep tonight?

Haha, I wouldn't have a clue. I googled Hardron Collider and abingdon and a lot of stuff comes up. I'm sure he said something like that.

 

[DotCommunist]

While you're here science fans, can you explain what the Tokomak is all about?

 

[_pH_]

Haha, I wouldn't have a clue. I googled Hardron Collider and abingdon and a lot of stuff comes up. I'm sure he said something like that.

Does he work at the Rutherford-Appleton lab, Chris? That's in Harwell, not far from Abingdon

Harwell used to be part of AWE iirc, maybe someone else will know more

 

[ChrisFilter]

To be honest, not even sure of the name of his company. It can't be a hardron collider, but it's along those lines.

 

[Bob_the_lost]

How do you hold a material that's really really hot? So hot that it burns through ANYTHING?

Simple answer is that you can't. No material can withstand plasma at the temperature you'd find in a Sun, so how'd you keep it in one place? One trick is to use magnetic fields to contain it, then again magnetic fields aren't as easy to use as just sides on a box. You just can't make the fields in a shape that'd be really convenient. The Tokamak is a doughnut shaped racetrack for the plasma to sit in and is currently the best / only way to arrange magnetic fields so that the plasma doesn't escape and torch the surrounding area.

Crispy: Correct at will.

 

[_pH_]

It can't be a hardron collider

You sure? RAL have been contributing to the LHC project, even though the experiments are done at CERN

http://www.scitech.ac.uk/SciProg/PP/Projects/LHC.aspx

*desperately wants ChrisFilter Snr to be a top scientist at RAL so he can come on here and explain the wonders of the universe to us *

 

[Crispy]

No correction needed

Although I have my hopes on Inertial Electrodynamic Fusion myself - the Bussard Polywell. They're building and testing a new prototype right now.

 

[Bob_the_lost]

I think i remember that, looked very clever.

 

[_pH_]

Run your own Tokamak!!!

 

[Crispy]

Very clever indeed. None of that pissing about with superconducting magnets. No millions of degrees kelvin. The US Navy have chipped back in a few million $ and fingers crossed the experiment will bear fruit this year. If it works the way it's supposed to, I reckon they'll have a powerplant inside 10 years.

 

[DotCommunist]

How do you hold a material that's really really hot? So hot that it burns through ANYTHING?

Simple answer is that you can't. No material can withstand plasma at the temperature you'd find in a Sun, so how'd you keep it in one place? One trick is to use magnetic fields to contain it, then again magnetic fields aren't as easy to use as just sides on a box. You just can't make the fields in a shape that'd be really convenient. The Tokamak is a doughnut shaped racetrack for the plasma to sit in and is currently the best / only way to arrange magnetic fields so that the plasma doesn't escape and torch the surrounding area.

Crispy: Correct at will.

that is


I can imagine how a field collapse would cause so much fear (I'm specifically thinking of the pilot in Redemption Ark and her fucked Tokamak)

 

[ChrisFilter]

You sure? RAL have been contributing to the LHC project, even though the experiments are done at CERN

http://www.scitech.ac.uk/SciProg/PP/Projects/LHC.aspx

*desperately wants ChrisFilter Snr to be a top scientist at RAL so he can come on here and explain the wonders of the universe to us *

Even if it is true, he's Sales Director

 

[DotCommunist]

Very clever indeed. None of that pissing about with superconducting magnets. No millions of degrees kelvin. The US Navy have chipped back in a few million $ and fingers crossed the experiment will bear fruit this year. If it works the way it's supposed to, I reckon they'll have a powerplant inside 10 years.

Explain this in terms a fan of sci-fi might understand plaese

<H2>How it Works

According to http://www.science.edu/TechoftheYear/TechoftheYear.htm
"The fusion process recommended by Dr. Bussard takes boron-11 and fuses a proton to it, producing, in its excited state, a carbon-12 atom. This excited carbon-12 atom decays to beryllium-8 and helium-4. Beryllium-8 very quickly (in 10-13 s) decays into two more helium-4 atoms. This is the only nuclear-energy releasing process in the whole world that releases fusion energy and three helium atoms -- and no neutrons. This reaction is completely radiation free. "[The fusion process that powers stars is enabled by the gravitational force field that draws particles directly together]. Only one other force is known to be like gravity: this is the electric field force or "coulomb" force, between electrically-charged particles. "Charged particles of opposite signs attract each other with direct forces; charged particles in electric fields feel forces directly along field gradients. Thus, fusion fuel plasmas could be held together efficiently by electric forces and electric fields. This is called "Electric Fusion". "The basic approach of electric fusion is the following: * Quasi-spherical magnetic fields trap injected energetic electrons to form spherical negative potential well. * Fusion ions trapped in this spherical well focused through central region oscillate across the "core" until they are reacted. * The system acts like a spherical colliding beam device. * Fuel gas is input at the potential well edge. Fusion products escape to system walls. * Ion fusion power generation occurs in a central region. * Electron drive power is decoupled from the fusion process. * Power balance is set by injected electron losses; the main losses occurring through the magnetic cusps and to walls. * Magnetic confinement of electrons is critical. * "Wiffle Ball" (WB) effect insures cusp sealing. * Magnetic insulation of the walls is important. * "Magrid" (MG) effect reduces power and raises gain

</H2>

This confuses me

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Looks like something out of Half Life.

 

[HarryinOz]

It can't possibly go wrong.

Half Life !! .....I'm still stuck in the lab

 

[Teepee]

Half Life !! .....I'm still stuck in the lab

push the buggy holding the rock into the beam

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

push the buggy holding the rock into the beam

I gave up on that stupid game.

Anyone for CoD4 online?

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

We could form a clan...

 

[Lemon Eddy]

It can't possibly go wrong.

:: stocks up on crowbars and 70's era spectacles ::

 

[_pH_]

Even if it is true, he's Sales Director

Oh

 

[cliche guevara]

You are causing my brain to hurt.

This explains the mass/speed of light thing pretty well. That red line will get infinitely close to, but never touch 100%. It's also interesting to note that the increase of mass as speed increases is not going to be apparent until travelling at a significant percentage of light speed, meaning that for our everyday life, this is compltely irrelevant.

Special relativity has all sorts of fun implications, such as, when you go on a long haul flight, the time it takes you to travel will differ from the time experienced by those on the ground. Only by a fraction of a nano second, but still pretty cool