News about the Large Hadron Collider was certainly ubiquitous today, hitting the front pages of the mainstream media all over the world. It was only after reading some of the featured articles, however, when I realized (to my horror) that it would probably take about one full year for the LHC to warm up before the actual experiment occurs.
New to the LHC?
Check out the previous articles first to understand what it's all about:
09/09/2008: Will The World End Tomorrow?
01/09/2008: The LHC: Of Black Holes and God Particles
Some excerpts:
"In the coming months, the collider is expected to begin smashing particles into each other by sending two beams of protons around the tunnel in opposite directions."
"The collider will operate at higher energies and intensities in the next year, potentially generating enough data to make a discovery by 2009, experts say." (Source: CNN)
"Gillies told the AP that the most dangerous thing that could happen would be if a beam at full power were to go out of control, and that would only damage the accelerator itself and burrow into the rock around the tunnel deep below the Swiss-French border.
And full power is probably a year away.
''On Wednesday we start small,'' said Gillies. ''What we're putting in to start with is one single low intensity bunch at low energy and we thread that around. We get experience with low energy things and then we ramp up as we get to know the machine better.''
He said a good result for Wednesday would be to have one beam going all the way around the tunnel in a counterclockwise direction. If that works, the scientists will then try to send a beam in the other direction.
''A really good result would be to have the other beam going around, too, because once you've got a beam around once in both directions you know that there is no show stopper,'' Gillies said. ''It's going to work.''
However, if there is some blockage in the machine, experts will have to go in and fix the problem, and that could take time.
The LHC, as the collider is known, will take scientists to within a split second of a laboratory recreation of the big bang, which they theorize was the massive explosion that created the universe." (Source: NYTimes)
"During winter, the LHC will be shut down, allowing equipment to be fine-tuned for collisions at full energy." (Source: BBC)
Sorry folks, but it looks like the reckless predictions of a global calamity happening today are all horribly wrong. Even if the LHC could produce something dangerous, light-speed proton to proton collision is likely to be at least a year away - along with all the possibilities of planet-swallowing black holes. Talk about a letdown.
Once again, the live webcast of the LHC's startup is available here. It might not be working as CERN is limiting the webcast to only a set number of viewers due to the overwhelming response. Video recordings of the live feed, however, will definitely find their way to YouTube.
LIVE WEBCAST FEED:
#1: There seems to be some technical issues right now with the LHC. The first beam went through fine, but the next beam fired at the anti-clockwise direction has encountered a problem at point6 along the LHC. It certainly seems like the LHC still needs a lot of tweaking and further tests before it's ready to solve some of humanity's greatest secrets.
#2: The problem was found to be due to optics issues and have been corrected and reached point5. What the scientists basically are doing is shooting a beam and artificially stopping it at certain set points in order to check if it traveled off its projected trajectory. It's a tough and tedious process. Fine-tuning the beam and the related calibrations are precisely what makes my point in this article: It's going to take a long time before the LHC actually discovers anything or produce a (microscopic) black hole.
#3: The anti-clockwise ajustment is halfway done. Once it's done, the intensity of the proton beams will be increased and tried again. Beam has reached point 3. They are solving errors and making faster and more incredible progress than anything have ever expected. In a very short time, they'll complete the circuit and finish the first step. Intensity is the next.
CERN's report here.
No comments:
Post a Comment