I'm trying to get a subforum put on AF area of libcom called /miniblackhole but mods are ignoring me for some reason. I don't think they quite got it. Oh well, it'll all be over soon. I'll be holding my Millennium Bug mug tightly as I reach the event horizon and we put all our differences aside and become one.
The End of the World?
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They could also find the first evidence of extra spatial dimensions, and even create mini-black holes that blink in and out of existence in a fraction of a second.
That does seem dangerous.
I recall that many scientists were unsure whether the reactions caused by exploding an atom bomb would stop or would continue forever. I wonder when they'll get unlucky?
Just to make you all feel safer, there's actually a series of court cases being launched by scientists trying to stop it being turned on!
Disclaimer: I don't really think it's going to be the end of the world tomorrow. I've just bought some fresh milk.
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They start in october but stop in winter to save electricity then really get going next summer.
No mention of that on the LHC site on CERN that I could find ...
And it seems bizarre that they'd shut it down in winter to save electricity, when one of the major problems is keeping the ring cool (close to absolute zero).
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Maybe electricity is more expensive in the winter?
I find this difficult to believe, but I have no idea how the continental electricity system works. But, considering it takes a lot of time and energy to get the thing cool enough to use, they'd certainly be keeping the cryo-units running continuously or otherwise they'd have to go through it all again. Of course, scientists need holidays too, so I imagine they stop smashing particles round Xmas time. But saving electricity seems rather implausible to me ... but hey, I could be wrong.
And it seems, I am. From the NY Times:
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CERN shuts down for the winter to save money on its electric bill. While it sleeps, engineers will “train” the superconducting magnets that steer the energetic particles around their track to handle the high currents needed to produce fields strong enough to bend the paths of 7-trillion-electron-volt protons. When the collider awakens again in the spring it will be at full strength, and physicists will be face to face with their dreams.
Looks like physicists are feeling the pinch from the credit crisis too!
You just don't get this kind of objective journalism anymore.
health and safety still applies to universe-destroying machines. stop trying to roll back the gains of workers struggle!
(i'm moving this to libcommunity since irreverence seems to outweigh the collective knowledge of particle physics on this board - if anyone wants a serious thread about the LHC please start one!)
It could all be over on Wednesday. Apparently, a huge particle accelerator is being turned on by CERN in order to simulate the beginning of the universe. Let's just hope they don't damage this one in the process!