Yes, I am serious about this while excited about it too. I'm not too excited about dying early but excited about the possibility of opening up Pandora's box on the origins of our universe.
It has been called an Alice in Wonderland investigation into the makeup of the universe - or dangerous tampering with nature that could spell doomsday.
Whatever the case, the most powerful atom-smasher ever built comes online Wednesday, eagerly anticipated by scientists worldwide who have awaited this moment for two decades.
The machine at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, promises scientists a closer look at the makeup of matter, filling in gaps in knowledge or possibly reshaping theories.
The first beams of protons will be fired around the 27-kilometer, or 17-mile, tunnel to test the controlling strength of the world's largest superconducting magnets. It will still be about a month before beams traveling in opposite directions are brought together in collisions that some skeptics fear could create micro "black holes" and endanger the planet.
"This only happens once a generation," said Katie Yurkewicz, spokeswoman for the U.S. contingent at the CERN project. "People are certainly very excited."
The CERN collider is designed to push the proton beam close to the speed of light, whizzing 11,000 times a second around the tunnel 46 meters, or 150 feet, to 150 meters under the bucolic countryside on the French-Swiss border.
Once the beam is successfully fired counterclockwise, a clockwise test will follow. Then the scientists will aim the beams at each other so that protons collide, shattering into fragments and releasing energy under the gaze of detectors filling cathedral-sized caverns at points along the tunnel.
CERN dismisses the risk of micro black holes, subatomic versions of collapsed stars whose gravity is so strong they can suck in planets and other stars.
CERN hopes to recreate conditions in the laboratory a split-second after the Big Bang, teaching them more about "dark matter," antimatter and possibly hidden dimensions of space and time.
2 comments:
when are they turning it on?
like what time? because if ima die... i'd like to know about when.
Rebecca, it should be one month from September 7th, 2008.
The scientist think they can control the black hole. What we worry is if they cant....then the black hole will consume everything and grow.
Thanks for dropping by.
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