the large hadron collidor particle accelerator

[worm]

it's just the media grasping the wrong end of the stick as usual and just making the turning on of the machine seem a bigger deal than it actually is. Wouldn't be surprised if the media lose interest by the time the proper experiments start.

[worm]

They hope the Higgs Boson might be the missing particle that gives things mass.

[tHomBleached]

Why not 100%?

Forgive me, I have next to no understanding of all this. Just saw that figure of 99.9blah and thought why not 100%?

[llcoolphil]

If they don't find it - doesn't that mean pretty much everything we base our knowledge of physics on is complete crap? (or something)

Edited September 10, 2008 by llcoolphil

[worm]

No it doesn't. No it won't. But I know you're dying to expand your theory so I'll humour you and ask for an explanation!!

Edited September 10, 2008 by worm

[llcoolphil]

I'd suggest that it was the spin merchants at CERN who made sure the media thought today would bring the end of the world, so that they could do as you've suggested, run the experiments once the media circus has jumped up the next bandwagon.

[llcoolphil]

Thanks teach.

I was referring to the in and out of existence phenomenon that occurs at a low level and is affected by being conscious of it. I'm not, as you perhaps thought, arguing that things only exist when we are conscious of them and that all physical properties are relative entirely to human experience and epistemology, though that was my reserved line for if and when things got too heavy in here. But for now, just the phenomenon thingy.

[worm]

Doesn't give it mass though

Edited September 10, 2008 by worm

[tHomBleached]

There's also the consideration of how long it'll be before they process all the results. Im sure people were expecting them to do some collisions today and then have the results ready for the six o'clock news tonight. What do we reckon? Next September at the earliest? Still bloody exciting though - even in terms of succeeding in accelerating some protons round a 27 KM track 11,000 times a second!! And then the other way!

[Chocscoffer]

Ok, so I'm not really understanding why this experiment was done? What do the scientists hope to achieve?

[llcoolphil]

Erm, how not?

At a very coarse level just to make my point clear here, if I were dead there would be no mass.

[llcoolphil]

Ok, so I'm not really understanding why this experiment was done? What do the scientists hope to achieve?

[tHomBleached]

Ok, so I'm not really understanding why this experiment was done? What do the scientists hope to achieve?

[llcoolphil]

This is all your getting for the moment, still fascinating though:-

[worm]

Im referring to the physical property of material objects and you're talking about bollocks something else

Edited September 10, 2008 by worm

[Chocscoffer]

They want to find out how the universe was made and what it is made of in a nutshell

[worm]

That's pretty heavy! Will this sort of experiment benefit this planet in anyway or is it just a matter of 'ok so now we know what the planet is made of' end of story sort of thing?

Sorry for all the questions but I watched it this morning hoping a dummies explanation of what was going on was going to be given but it was way over my head!

Edited September 10, 2008 by worm

[tHomBleached]

Are they the pictures showing they've detected the particles in the Atlas chamber?

[rabid]

Erm, how not?

At a very coarse level just to make my point clear here, if I were dead there would be no mass.

[llcoolphil]

That's pretty heavy! Will this sort of experiment benefit this planet in anyway or is it just a matter of 'ok so now we know what the planet is made of' end of story sort of thing?

Sorry for all the questions but I watched it this morning hoping a dummies explanation of what was going on was going to be given but it was way over my head!

[worm]

Oh I'm sure there'd be some sort of remembrance even if you're not religious.

[sifi]

Fixed.

[Greeny_Musicchild]

anyone else think that if this thing did end the world that, 'hey, at least we would get to see the end of the world'?

[worm]

Bollocks! That would be like saying discovering the electron proved the existence of the electron and nothing else. Look at the applications we've used that knowledge in!!

[worm]

There is always a bigger fish!