I LOL-ed

[xer0s]

Testing? So it hasn't been fully cranked up to it's max?

[Fender]

http://hcc.web.cern.ch/hcc/

[xer0s]

They're going to kill us all...

[Κracus]

Pft, he's assuming the number 42 will make sense in a linguistic sense after we're all sucked into the 10th dimension.

[bork[e]]

what in the hell are you all on about?

[Peenyuh]

What else...42.

[Denz]

Lets make a black hole.

[Scarface]

The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything

[xer0s]

Ya, I don't think some caught the book/film reference...

[Fender]

they are testing it now

Some cools pics in this article.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/0 ... lider.html

[Dr_Watson]

those pics are outstanding

[saturn]

they are testing it now

Some cools pics in this article.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/0 ... lider.html

Awesome, thanks for the link.

[saturn]

27 km of this just to collide particles. I really hope we'll get some new insights in fundamental physics.

[saturn]

The CMS detector is impressive

[+JuggerNaut+]

that's fucking nuts. nice share man.

[Massive Quasars]

Tempted to make it a background.

[LawL]

[raw]

I don't get it.

[andyman]

what did all this cost?

[bork[e]]

did you see the size of the magnet

what's the point of all this anyway?

[Fender]

that's fucking nuts. nice share man.

Thanks. Honestly, I found it while at work, and really didn't look at all the pics that well. Now that I've had time to look at them, I find myself a bit humbled by them. If they find the Higgs boson, then this really is the pinnacle of human scientific achievement. It would put to bed any questions about the standard model.

Of course, many scientists think it would be as equally interesting if the Higgs boson is NOT found. That would essentially mean that the standard model is wrong at its core and there is an undiscovered truth out that for science to unravel. While on one level that's very intriguing to me, it also scares the fuck out of me. The current anti-science culture that's prevalent in the US would run with that and use it to poison the common (I'm not trying to be elitist) person's opinion of science and rational thought than they've already done with creationism and other pseudo-sciences. I really don't think we can afford that. Too much is at stake.

[tnf]

bork[e] - To see the point behind this massive experiment you need to understand the basics of the standard model of particle physics and some of the very, very, very early history of the universe. This whole device is out to answer some real fundamental questions about the nature of mass as it relates to matter - in simple terms, the fact that matter has mass isn't quite as straightforward as one might think. The higgs boson would be a huge discovery as it has been predicted by the standard model but as of yet has been undetected (and until the LHC probably undectetable). Because the LHC will generate collisions at such phenomally huge energies, it will allow researchers to study conditions theoretically very similar to the earliest stages of the universe when matter had not yet 'condensed' (for lack of a better term) into the stuff we are familiar with (atoms, protons, neutrons, etc.)

If the LHC researchers detect the higgs boson, it will rank as one of the biggest scientific discoveries ever (but probably the one that the fewest people in the general public really appreciate due to the fact that this subject doesn't get near the coverage in the mainstream media as other subjects.)

Some people refer to the Higgs particle as the God particle. Discovering it will be an amazing insight into the wonderfully creative power of Yahweh and this wondrous 6000 year old universe that he whipped up in 6 days. I can't wait.

[bork[e]]

luv you

[LawL]

what did all this cost?

bout tree fiddy

[MaCaBr3]

Watch the documentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNvzb5ww ... playnext=1