we're all gonna dieeeee.

[X'tyfe]

its supposed to be turned on around 12:30ish EST i think

[The Happy Friar]

that means I don't need to take the kids to the dentist!  Yeah!  A *REAL* day off! 

[lidz]

What people don't realize is that atoms actually smash into each other all the freaking time.  It is happening all around you.  They have observed this happening in our atmosphere for years, but they can't study it in detail, because it isn't in a controlled environment.  All they want to do now is put the occurance in a box.

Freaking out about this, would be like freaking out when they invented the water faucet!  Oooo scary. 

[[BTF]Sigma]

Atoms are not being collided here. Protons are. Protons and electrons are the block and pegs to the lego pieces that are atoms.

And generally atoms collide with each other in places other than the atmosphere. Like when you type your replies to threads. The atoms in your fingers collide with the atoms in the keys on your keyboard. Thing is, that event doesn't have any atomic property manipulating reaction.

Now, collide protons together that normally would not come close to each other's vacinity without the companionship of a neutron and electron and you have something intriging.

Hope that clears it up somewhat. At this time I can't really say I'm being factually accurate. heh, I need some sleep.

But if the world ends can someone send me the link so I don't miss it because I slept in?

[QwazyWabbit]

The protons point is correct. They are accelerating protons, stripped of electron shells and separated from any neutrons they were assocated with. (Hydrogen is 1 proton and one electron, Deuterium is a proton and neutron surrounded by an electron for instance.)

Collisions, however don't occur in keyboards or atmospheres. Atoms repel each other at the electron shells. It's actually electrical field repulsion between the electrons of the material that you "feel" on your feet when you walk and fingers when you type or touch.

The only time nucleons (protons and neutrons) collide is when they are stripped of their electrons and are moving fast enough (heat) that the can get close enough to "touch" and overcome the electric repulsion between them and then they either break into their constituent particles (pions, muons, neutrinos) or give up some energy (photons) and merge to become a heavier atomic nucleus (fusion). This happens in stars and in thermonuclear bombs. In stars, the heating and compression is from gravity. On Earth, we have to do it with electric arcs, magnets and magnetrons to heat them and keep them moving at speeds close to the speed of light.

There is some particle collision in the atmosphere due to cosmic rays (protons) from space that collide with air molecules and this is what Hawking was talking about.

LHC is nothing more than a very sophisticated oven with lots of room for spinning protons in a storage ring before sending them to the mixing bowl inside.

Other than that, when they start the reaction... We're all gonna dieeeee!

[jägermonsta]

They have a machine that can make little black holes yet we don't have many cars that can get more than 30 miles out of a gallon of gasoline. 

[The Happy Friar]

They have a machine that can make little black holes yet we don't have many cars that can get more than 30 miles out of a gallon of gasoline. 

but the US has had cars that get an EPA rated ~50mpg for ~15 years.   

just think: if this destroyed the universe it proves that a sentient being can make a new universe.  If it doesn't but it still works, it proves a sentient being can make a new universe.  If it doesn't work they'll try again tomorrow.   

[jägermonsta]

but the US has had cars that get an EPA rated ~50mpg for ~15 years.   

Notice I said, MANY CARS, MANY CARS. Yes I know there are cars that do but they are not practice. I'm not even trying to push for cars that use gas, if they can make this fucking thing why can't I have a car that runs off dumb fucking people?

[X'tyfe]

Well, I guess it was a false alarm... There is always next month

[Whirlingdervish]

if they can make this fucking thing why can't I have a car that runs off dumb fucking people?

Well there's the geo metro for that.

Good gas mileage too.

 


btw, it will be a few months before they force anything to collide in the supercollider.

Today they were just sending particle beams in both directions around the ring, to test the machine, but not simultaneously.

[Whirlingdervish]

someone posted this link to some webcams that are placed around the LHC so we can watch it in realtime..

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

 

[Arm0r]

someone posted this link to some webcams that are placed around the LHC so we can watch it in realtime..

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

 

  that was funny

[reaper]

How do they know how the other dimensions react, if they don't even know they exist?

Isn't this a scenario that doesn't happen in the natural world, except at the big bang?

If they don't know if the other dimensions exist, how can they say there won't be some type of chain reaction in the previously unknow dimensions.

but I say more power to them

 

[Whirlingdervish]

in general the types of impacts that they are recreating occur many times a day in our atmosphere and in the space around our planet.

they just wanted to bottle one so they could check it out in detail and perhaps photograph the moment of impact to determine the types of particles being emitted.

It's an excercise in controlled observation of a natural phenomenon.

[kren.Z]

If you want a primer on how mathematicians can visualize objects in higher dimensions take a look at
http://www.dimensions-math.org/Dim_regarder_E_E.htm. The whole series runs at ~2hrs but it is well worth it.

The first video is just an introductory to trigonometry, things start to get interesting in video 2 when they take a mathematical approach to Escher's paintings (which is the way they should be interpreted anyways). The mind boggling ideas come later on.  Although it is intended for serious math geeks, there is few equations and i highly recommend watching it.