Thetownend.com

Can someone please explain to me what it is all about?

What? Tomorrow? That's so unfair! It's payday Thursday.................

They are tring to recreate a block hole,its gonna suck the earth in.

Can I let you know on Thursday?

Scientists aim to try and solve the BIG BANG theory tomorrow. Read this from the Adver, and note the comment about STFC at the end! : http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/3654919.Secrets_from_the_dawn_of_time/

Is this the thing that was on Newsnight last night? They plan to collide certain types of particle together to explain further the big bang theory (or what happened after it or soemthing)
The worry is that it could create a black hole, but the nerdy physicists involved say it will not be a problem as it will decay in 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000...00001 seconds

some scientists are starting an experiment which sends small particles crashing into each other at nearly the speed of light, some other people believe this could create a black hole which will swallow the earth.

I haven't got a clue what it's all about tbh.

They are not trying to create a black hole, they are looking for the 'God' particle which will explain 'MASS'.

It's hard to explain but these folks don't know WHY when you hit yourself on the head with an inflatable hammer it wont hurt but a real hammer has more mass so therefore will hurt... its all about mass and this special particle.

A black hole could be created BUT it will be microscopic and probably last for about 1 second (maybe less) the LHC website tells you all about it! This experiment is amazing!!!

It's an awesome particle physics experiment which is going to batter particles at each other to see if they can detect a Higgs Boson, which is what determins other particles mass. That's a pretty simplified version and there are other experiments going on with it, generally the whole thing is facinating.

It's got about the same chance of destroying the world as any other experiment into the unknown humanity does, sort of the same risk of Dolly the sheep turning into vampire zombie and devouring us all.

The black hole stuff sensationalism you may have read about is a bit silly, the last I read scientists had decided that it's unlikely to create a black hole, but even if it did it would be far to small to remain stable and would dissipate into Hawking radiation in an instant (sort of like a zillionth of a second or something).

Even if you're still worried, you're still probably safe tomorrow as they aren't doing any actual collisions for another month. Tomorrow is all about turning on the machine and whizzing some protons round at great speed.

It really is fascinating stuff and worth reading up on.

Pah, the world will have ended before I've finished reading about it.

was reading about this the other day, lots of searching for antimatter and stuff.

I know what they are doing and I understand the expermint. However what I don't get is the fucking point?

To further our understanding of the universe?

To understand more about the universe

If they find what they're looking for they've changed what we know about physics.

So they are just doing it because they can. Perhaps my question was poorly worded. What are the real life benifits.

What's wrong with furthering our knowledge of the universe? Sure, it doesn't effect the everyday lives of you and me but it's pretty important that we keeping thinking and keep learning more doesn't it?

Don't get me wrong it's all good that we are learning I just wondered why. I think it's great totaly pointless by great!

One day they will do an experiment and find out God does exist.

Amen to that.

So is the world going to end tomorrow or not?

Unless something remarkable happens there is probably nothing from the direct results of this experiment that will effect your life in the medium term. Who knows eventually? Greater understanding of the basic building blocks of the universe can only lead to more ways to manipulate it for our own uses.

Indirectly there have been technological advances just to build the machines to perform the experiments. Stuff in the fields of superconducting and magnets which will help build faster computertrons and interwebs.

Nah, but the day after there's going to be a crazy storm and then the world is going to freeze over.

Should I head for the library then?

As they said on mock the week if there is even the slightest chance of danger DONT FUCKIN DO IT

Remember to keep those fires a-burnin' - don't be convinced to go out in the cold and venture elsewhere, you'll regret it ;)

According to Stephen Hawking, particles collide thousands of times a day in the earth's atmosphere so there's no reason to panic.

And it's 8.30 and I'm still alive, yay!

One of the many (literally thousands) of benefits that CERN has produced through it's particle physics research, is the internet.

If it wasn't for them, there would be no townend.com

Exactly. God bless mankind's failure to know when to stop.

are we all dead yet?

Don't think they're actually doing any collisions today, just whizzing protons around to check it works. We're pretty safe for another month.

No. Unless being on the town end.com is our heaven. In which case I'm seriously dissapointed with how I lived my life.

There is some good stuff on you tube about this. Apparently it takes weeks for the particles to reach top speed, and there is a very good chance of black holes being produced only to small to be a danger (I hope)

Have a butchers at:

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fJ6PMfnz2E&feature=related

Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQNPpeVvZ9w&feature=related

Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XbKZwXK-3c&feature=related

I just read somewhere pointing out that should 2 cars hit each other, with each car going at 50mph then the force of the collision then the impact would be 100mph.

And so these hadrons being smashed together at the speed of light will actually impact at forces of nearly 2x the speed of light. I would post the link if I didn't close the page but it went on to explain how theoretically time travel could be achieved.

Which is deemed impossible in science (Although science accepts that nothing is neither impossible or definite). And yet they are even pushing that boundry. Scientists are also searching for the value of infinity.... is it possible for infiity to have a value/equation/formula????? Either way they are looking for it.

What is so exciting about the higgs boson for me is that, should it exist, then it will have to occupy the same time space as other particles which is theoretically impossible. This gives birth to the thought that previously unseen dimensions could be discovered which could be the single greatest scientific breakthrough in world history, this shit is absolutely mind boggling.

I have read up on this and basically they are hoping to be able to combine all of the existing theory's into one, in the way that electricity and magnetism where combined into electromagnetism many moons ago. They are looking for the equation that combines E=MC2 with everything else to get an equation that answers EVERYTHING.

But this is science, and we are humans. And so I also wonder that if we do find the Higgs Boson (The answer to EVERYTHING), how long will it be before we want to split the Higgs Boson, after all it was not that long ago that the atom was considered to be the smallest possible particle.

Yet in a hundred years or so we may be looking to smash one Higgs Boson against another. I can't wait until they true then LHC to full speed and start getting results, it wont happen quickly though as it is due to be turned on 100% until next year.

I'm not sure that it sounds like the most reliable of sources?

There are some interesting time dilation that they have to take into account through the measurements. It all comes from the speed that the things are travelling. Because relative to you nothing can be moving faster than the speed of light you get weird things happening under Einsteins special theory of relativity. It's all a bit odd and I'm not sure I can explain it after a few beers.

There's some crazy thought experiments that you can do, but they can mess with your head. I'll find them later.

I can't get my head round this theory that the universe is infinite in size.

I suppose it's another one of those unprovable things, but I really am not having that. There must be an end somewhere.

What theory is that?

The size of the universe is a weird one, we know quite accurately how big the observable universe is. Observable universe doesn't mean "as good as our telescopes are", it's more that because of the speed of light limit, the further we look away from us the more we're looking back in time, because of the length of time the light has gotten to reach us. This means that we can't see back past the start of the universe.

Urgh, sorry badly written.

Sorry for that little outburst there.

I got annoyed when I read they are working on a way to investigate this whole infinity thing.

Somehow Ben I just knew that you would be the first to reply, maybe that is down to the Higgs Boson.

But yeah, going faster than the speed of light is impossible. But it is really, after all is science and the entire reason that the Higgs Boson theory came about is because Einstein's theory just doesn't quite add up.

Either way the possibility of finding other dimensions is star trek stuff, even that LHC is basically a crude photon torpedo, and I'm all for that sort of stuff.

Oh yeah definitely. The speed of light thing is really interesting though. A lot of the stuff which comes out of it, like time dilation and length contraction, seem to be completely against common sense. But actually end up holding true when tested.

It's worth reading up on just for the mind fuck of it all. It's a shame that the wikipedia pages seem to be a giant mind fuck. There must be some proper physicist town fans on here that can explain it better.

It is a fact that time runs differently for astronauts in space than it does to NASA HQ. NASA even have to adjust their 'watches' periodically to keep time with the astronoauts.

And even NASA have no idea why.

They do no why! That's the point.

Errata.

Yeah they do know why. It's because something out there is changing the rules of time and space. which is what the LHC is all about.

No No No No

It's not "something out there changing the rules to time and space", the time changing things are part of the "rules of time and space" as we understand them.

The LHC isn't a massive "explain everything" experiment. It's not going to suddenly print off the answers to all the mysteries of the universe. They're looking for certain things to back up, or disprove, theories that they already have. If it throws up stuff they don't know then they'll have to come up with new theories. It won't suddenly invent understanding for us.

Thanks ben

I know Ben, but not really because the LHC and time space is quite profound.

It is late for me and I have been drinking and so it is difficult for me to say what I am trying to say. Yet these chappies at the LHC don't really know what will/might happen themselves.

I like Hawkins idea that they will find nothing at all, which will make them realise that they where wrong about the Higgs Boson (Or does it???).

If Hawkins is right, and there is no Higgs Boson then it blows Physics theory wide open again, they have to start from scratch and start looking into alternative theories such as the chain theory. (The Higgs is by far the most simple theory).

Anyway, I need sleep. Fact not theory.

Nite'

Anybody else watch the prog in the week which followed a bunch of CERN scientists, leading to the apparent discovery of the Higgs Boson....pretty amazing stuff.

I know there's a few particle freaks on here....but the super symmetry v multiverse argument is far out man.

Also I think  yesterday, a Leicester research team reckoned they might be onto some dark matter....

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/16/dark-matter-detected-sun-axions

Oh, and if you want to challenge the brain....here's the prog.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04lcyzy

I still struggle to get my head around how this technological explosion came about over such a short period of time following centuries of slow and steady (if not stagnant) progress.

Doesn't sit well with me.

Money and the ability to actually build machines to test theories.

History tells us that "progress" has never been a steady upward curve, but rather remarkable flowerings, usually chopped off by war and conflict, or surpressed by religions.

CERN is a collaboration....it's the kind of thing that European co-operation can achieve, when for the last 70 years we've been reasonably conflict free.

Tis the work of the devil I tells ya!

Same week that Lockheed announce their new fusion reactor prototype should have solved the problem with previous efforts RE:efficiency.

That to me is when the next phase of man will start, when the first efficient fusion reactor comes online for the world at large.

What I find interesting is that a lot of scientists who were adamant there is no God are now thinking maybe there is. The more they find , the more questions it asks.

Such as?

All the figures I've seen suggest that the proportion of scientists who hold a religious belief has remained fairly constant over the past 100 years. Of course some change their mind one way, some move in the other direction, but overall there's not been a significant proportional shift.

I repeat Flashheart's question.

Allusions to the 'God Particle' are mere dumbing down for the layman. Minus that cop out 'Or God did it' bit in Stephen Hawking's Brief History of time, I have yet to come across any decent scientist, even those who believe in God, who will accept their final answer to a question to be 'God'. They wouldn't be scientists if they did.

I haven't got any names at hand im afraid but I do remember reading that more Scientists are open minded of a God or Creator  as The Big Bang theory only opened up the question of what caused it and that ultimatly there is a overall force / God that created it.

I know I am not explaining myself very well

The God particle was actually originally called the 'God damn' particle, but the press at the time didn't want to print the word 'damn'. It was never actually a reference to God at all.

So called because the guy who first posited it's existence called it the "oh my god" particle. It has since been shortened.

God schmod, I want my monkey man

go and do some research and come back to us then we can attempt to disprove it, that's science (well according to Popper anyway)

It's Saturday.