This Wednesday, the first beams of energy are scheduled to be sent through the Large Hadron Collider far below the French-Swiss border.
What is the Large Hadron Collider? It’s a particle accelerator-- which really is just what it sounds like. It also happens to be the biggest, highest-energy particle accelerator ever built. They’re going to turn this machine on, fire particle beams through it, and see what happens. Some time around October 21, they’re going to start launching these beams toward one another-- as the “Collider“ part of the name suggests.
Responsible people in the scientific community admit this little experiment could lead to the end of the world-- no matter how incredibly unlikely. Less responsible types actually guarantee it. Some folks even tried to have a legal injunction shut the LHC down. Particle accelerators have been around since the 1930s without killing us all, and there’s no real reason to think this one will be any different.
Except for this. While Hadron colliders have been around since the 1970s, this one is, again, the most powerful one ever built. By about seven times. Which frankly, sounds just a little unnerving.
But it’s hard to get a true read on how unnerving it should be, and what the possible consequences of turning on the LHC this week. So much of the information available is laden with hyperbole and exaggeration that it’s almost impossible to know what to believe.
The Loudest Man in the Room is here to sort it out for you. Don’t believe any of it. Let’s put it this way, I’m a lot more afraid of the leftover fries I ate today than I am of the LHC. Wednesday will pass, and many scientists will slap each others’ backs and congratulate one another for their glorious experiment (which it is). And October 21 will also come to pass with nary a hint of the apocalypse.
Now, all that isn’t to say it’s not fun to get people worked up about this thing. I’ve spent the last few days having a lot of fun scaring people out of their wits with this thing. But please. We’re going to be fine.
Probably.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
The Only Thing More Fun Than 2 Girls 1 Cup
This Wednesday, the first beams of energy are scheduled to be sent through the Large Hadron Collider far below the French-Swiss border.
What is the Large Hadron Collider? It’s a particle accelerator-- which really is just what it sounds like. It also happens to be the biggest, highest-energy particle accelerator ever built. They’re going to turn this machine on, fire particle beams through it, and see what happens. Some time around October 21, they’re going to start launching these beams toward one another-- as the “Collider“ part of the name suggests.
Responsible people in the scientific community admit this little experiment could lead to the end of the world-- no matter how incredibly unlikely. Less responsible types actually guarantee it. Some folks even tried to have a legal injunction shut the LHC down. Particle accelerators have been around since the 1930s without killing us all, and there’s no real reason to think this one will be any different.
Except for this. While Hadron colliders have been around since the 1970s, this one is, again, the most powerful one ever built. By about seven times. Which frankly, sounds just a little unnerving.
But it’s hard to get a true read on how unnerving it should be, and what the possible consequences of turning on the LHC this week. So much of the information available is laden with hyperbole and exaggeration that it’s almost impossible to know what to believe.
The Loudest Man in the Room is here to sort it out for you. Don’t believe any of it. Let’s put it this way, I’m a lot more afraid of the leftover fries I ate today than I am of the LHC. Wednesday will pass, and many scientists will slap each others’ backs and congratulate one another for their glorious experiment (which it is). And October 21 will also come to pass with nary a hint of the apocalypse.
Now, all that isn’t to say it’s not fun to get people worked up about this thing. I’ve spent the last few days having a lot of fun scaring people out of their wits with this thing. But please. We’re going to be fine.
Probably.
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