The Cyclotron Kids: Teenagers building an Atom Smasher?!

[s200401055]

Sorry. Michio Kaku made one in his garage with the help of his mother and father.

[inuysha360]

funny, michio kaku did it in his garage without funding.

[QuaziGNRLNose]

kaku did it

[JermeisterHD]

How about you go out and have fun and worry about becoming a scientist later?

[7SinfulPleasures]

what a bunch of nerds lol.

[INMATE2468]

Michio making made one by himself that's how he got attention

[543diditwork]

Weird, I'm pretty sure I went to Stony Brook with that kid German.

[007MrYang]

Damn Im 17 and I haven't done anything like that I just read books. At 16 those kids have already built an atom smasher. But I don't have any money, what can I do?

[lolariffa]

hell yeah! thank god american media hasn't grabbed a hold of all our youth. keep us updated and keep up the good work you guys. *=D

[Superdoerr]

is this a joke, how can they build such a thing.

[qed100]

@Superdoerr That's a perfectly good question. In fact, amateurs have been building their own cyclotrons for quite a long time. I've read articles in Scientific American as far back as the 1950s about teenagers piecing them together with surplus parts. The one thing that's extra ambitious here is that they intend to get the beam energy high enough to create particle-antiparticle pairs. It's definitely feasible.

[urbanstein69]

Yeah,I built a linear partical accelerator back in 1969 for a 8th grade science fair project when I was 14. Just my luck, no you tube then.

[coolermasterpro]

Michio kaku made a particle accelerator all by himself as a teen during the time of WW2 so he is the first kid to make antimatter on the atomic scale not these kids

[paddyxg2]

@coolermasterpro Actually Michio Kaku didn't make antimatter. If you read his book 'Hyperspace' (page 6) you will find he created a betatron which takes already existing antimatter and simply accelerates it. He used a sodium 22 source which emits positrons. These kids are colliding protons with metal to actually CREATE positrons from the energy of the collision. It is a whole different matter and in my opinion far more impressive.

[fuzzyfuzzi17]

Harry Potter And The Smacking Collider....Not coming SOON

[xxWarZonexx]

wow this was really REALLY inspiring!! I got here becaues one of my own friends just told me he was thinking of doing something like this, GREAT project guys! And best of luck.

[FabianGabrielle]

Michio Kaku did this at age 17 and got accepted to harvard from building it.

[anisotropyx]

@coldironhands1

1. This accelerator was built in a lab, is currently being used by students from as far away as Mexico for research. I would consider that "helpful"

2. We gave up on the grant process when JLab offered us ~10X the resources in addition to lab space. I think we got a pretty good deal.

3. Neither of us attended private school, our parents contributed no more money to this project than yours did in the form of tax dollars.

[SkiLegend15]

@coldironhands1 fuck you. not one of them is jewish, goes to private school, or can be labeled as "rich"

why the hell do you feel like you have to judge other people's accomplishments. i'd have to ask, but they had money for the project because they had a sponsor. stop talking out of your ass though, these "kids" are straight up geniuses.

[game1son]

how much did this project cost?

[anisotropyx]

@game1son It's hard to determine exactly how much the project "cost" because of the countless volunteer hours put in by scientists at the lab. However, a conservative estimate would probably be ~$50k

[game1son]

Michio Kaku is the first teen to have made a 2.3 million eV atom smasher

[anisotropyx]

@game1son Michio Kaku attempted to build a betatron, but we have found no evidence that he succeeded. Teenagers have indeed made particle accelerators before, but at much lower energies.

[game1son]

@anisotropyx

oh, alright then... haha, thats just like a scientist, if you have'nt seen it, it probably does not exist. but i have seen pictures of Michio Kaku shaking hands for with those in his highschool faculty as a congrats, it was shown in his video on string theory, and he said he did and if he said he did, i mean... i'm not gonna doubt the guy, its Michio Kaku for dog sakes, also he said it got him into Harvard. anyways, is yours completed? how many eV?

[larrytaco]

i randomly found this video and i go to HCHS in New York small world i guess

[Xxd3cayxX]

@ SpecterRelfector, No they said they wanted to be the first to produce antimatter. I know Michio Kaku built a betatron, but I don't think he created antimatter in his garage.

[Xxd3cayxX]

These kids are amazing....

[SpecterReflector]

There's this guy on ebay, Shinn, who constructs a lot off this stuff. cyclotrons, muon detectors, fusor cells, mini neutron guns, the list goes on. if they keep this up there are good people who will buy their electronics.

[nsawilla]

awesome, keep it up! =D

[xpinkyboox]

They said they hope to be the first teenagers to build an atom smasher?? too late... Micho Kaku did this for a science fair when he was just in highschool, it's what got him a scholarship to Harvard.

[y11971alex]

Maybe you could beat the LHC and Tevatron to find the Higgs Boson!

[y11971alex]

I see you are creaating positrons. why don't you create a electron-positron collider, that would be a good plan!

[y11971alex]

to The Cyclotron Kids:

I suggest you to either change the cyclotron to a synchrotron or build another synchrotron to use the cyclotron as an injector. Cyclotrons gives you less contron on the out put of the particles, this is the reason cyclotrons are out of fashion. let's build a synchrotron next time.

[paulabonitinhabh]

i want to marry with one of those boys!

I loved them!

[Ainulph]

It's kids like these that make me realize why my work ethic is an issue. Great job guys, I have learned a lot from you.

[MasterHacker01]

michio kaku is like me!

except im going to build an x ray, w/ no funding in my garage

[FpsDominator]

they wouldn't be the first teenagers to create anti-matter. michio kaku created his own atom smasher in his garage when he was in high school, which was in 1964. he did this by himself and with no funding.

[anisotropyx]

@FpsDominator Michio Kaku says in his book "Hyperspace" that he wound magnet coils and when he plugged them in, he tripped circuit breakers. (see the end of page 6 of "Hyperspace," which you can search on Google Books) There isn't a shred of evidence that he actually built an accelerator and was successful. If you find real evidence, please post it here!

[Linkizcool]

He said so in several documentaries.

[kaiyne316]

an idea for you guys... see how you can put a Rodin coil into the design... i think it might have potential.... just a thought .. and dont laugh it off... think about it.. need a hand with design ( thought it would be very rough but the idea may have promise ) get int touch with me

[ProConstitutioner]

ahahaha that's random, and that's why it's funny

[ProConstitutioner]

i like ike

[lifesgood7777]

you guys are my idols

[puckman5444]

good luck with the work, just make sure to stay away from accidentally forming a black hole when you move onto the big leagues.

[anisotropyx]

Haha, thanks. Maybe antimatter, but no black hole.

-Heidi

[momopamlove]

lol i love u heidi im gana try to make one by my self i moved to ny and i dont have alot of friends here and the ones i do like basket ball and football there not into any of that but my dream is to become a big physicist

do u have any idea how i can make a atom smasher with out thousands of dollars im not that rich

[puckman5444]

flipping nerd trying to sound smart; Its apparatuses, not apparati

[johnnytheflipper]

so true so true

[Glidz34]

yo that kid german is in one of my classes

[yesman51]

Hey, Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers is NOT a cheesy movie!! -Mr. W

[Fusorkid]

Event hough you guys already have my full amazement, and support..WOW! Awesome...you inspired me to embark on my physics journey!

[movingzachb]

This is great that you all have decided to collaborate on such a cool project. I am looking forward to seeing what happens in June when the Hadron gets reactivated.

What is interesting is what is possible with what is readily available without grants or funding. That specific subject alone is what I would like to explore to!

[Alejandroll1]

Go kids! You'll be there in no time!

[Libera36]

Hey, I think I know those people... Maybe I'm imagining it, though...

[Fishpasteplay]

Should have ended that with "what I've studied outside of school...waaay outside of school".

[cranmer]

Great stuff! Keep it up.  Also, there are a lot of experimentalists working on the detectors, the accelerator physicists seem much more rare.

[SkiLegend15]

ha thats pretty cool peter.

when your a famous scientist give me a shoutout haha

[thewizardscannon2]

@SkiLegend15 me too

[anisotropyx]

FYI, Heidi's tshirt says "When you're not looking, I'm just a waveform."

[leotocar]

It looks like a video form the 90s. German is a senior. Lets go Cyclotron Kids. German solves your problem, i find that weird.

Can I come done and see the experiment??

[NetHawk41]

@leotocar lol it seemed like sci fi at the beginning.

[dorogan]

@leotocar A video from the 90s? I clearly see a Vista logo at 1:02