Tomorrow Today | On the Trail of Exotic Particles

The preparations are almost complete - the largest particle accelerator in the world,the Large Hadron Collider or LHC,is due to be reactivated after a year of repairs. CERN calls the LHC the largest experiment in the world,with 10,000 scientists from a host of countries working to make it possible.The heart of the machine is a 27 kilometer long ring of magnets that will smash protons together with such force that new sub-atomic particles can be created. Scientist are hoping the three billion euro endeavor will help shed light on some of the most puzzling questions of modern physics.

The particles cycle around the ring in less than one-ten-thousandth of a second,in opposite directions though two parallel pipes until they've reached velocities close to the speed of light. When the scientists let the particle beams collide,they produce a tiny but extremely hot fireball in which new particles are created.

And to keep the particles on track,all the magnets must maintain the same magnetic field. Otherwise the particles would crash into the walls - and destroy the machine. The less than one-millimeter wide has as much energy as a high speed train.
Another challenge is that the superconducting magnets have to be kept extremely cold. Achieving that requires about a hundred tons of liquid helium. Never before have such huge quantities of this dangerous fluid been used at once. It's a daunting enterprise.

The scientists have to monitor 17 hundred electrical circuits to keep their supermachine running. And soon the real work is supposed to begin - the hunt for the Higgs Boson.
Its existence is based on a highly mathematical theory devised by Peter Higgs and other physicists. To explain,all atoms have a nucleus. And that,in turn,is composed of building blocks. One of those building blocks is called a proton. It contains three particles called quarks.Together,they ought to weigh as much as the proton they constitute. But physicists found that protons are a hundred times heavier than their building blocks. There was no adequate explanation for the missing mass.

Higgs's theory provided a solution to the problem. It maintains that all particles interact with a so-called Higgs Field. This interplay gives the particles their mass,which is transmitted by the Higgs Boson. But so far,no one has actually found one. Scientists hoped the Large Hadron Collider would make it possible.
But in September 2008,disaster struck. A connector cable warmed up,causing huge quantities of helium to evaporate. The resulting shock wave destroyed several magnets and tore them from their mountings. Since then the LHC has been undergoing repairs.

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[marktsheppard]

...yet the English love to whip the horses... HA?! ...oops... again... "and LETS both drive the same direction" ...simple...

[marktsheppard]

this bullshit scientific logic is English... and the same as medieval jousting and boxing... where MEN are told to crash and to hit ...in to one another... so... lets NOT be English... and lets compete and race one another... and let both drive the same direction... yet with out knocking any one off... or cutting each other off... and racing is the ultimate gentlemans sport... were you respect you opponents space... yet to see who has the fastest horse... or bicycle... or car... or race bike...

[marktsheppard]

...hmmm... this is proof of how psychological scientists take away all the fun out of life... and make every one depressed and stupid... now... I am almost sure and certain that people did invent similar inventions... but ONLY to go fast and faster... seriously... imagine this as a super cool ride... where you go so freaken fast... and this being built thousands of years ago... HA?! ...even the Arabs could have built it... since they used math... and it would have turned enemies in to friends

[Damstraight68]

Chuck norris wants his microwave back

[taylorfalk2112]

I love the idea of scientific progress and this is money better spent then the iraq war, or any other war for that matter.... But what happens if we do find the higgs. The machine was built for MAINLY one thing, to find that particle. And it will be useful until we find it. But once we do, Its mostly obsolete. I know it does other things. But everyone knows it was built that big and at that energy level because thats the range that the higgs will be in. But whatever though, its still cool

[Drummermean2]

@Afrocanuk

Medicine: cancer therapy

Every major medical center in the nation uses accelerators producing x-rays, protons, neutrons or heavy ions for the

diagnosis and treatment of disease. It is estimated that there are over 7,000 operating medical linacs around the world

that have treated over 30,000,000 patients. At Fermilab, the NIU Institute for Neutron Therapy uses a beam of neutrons to

treat cancer patients.

PET scans etc

Scientists can also find out protein structures etc etc :)

[Afrocanuk]

What is the ultimate pursose of constructing particle accelerators? How is this enormous investment suppose to pay off appart from filling in blank squares on the periodic table?

[jc2k301]

If one black hole became stable, you could say goodbye to earth. 2012? End of the world? End of Earth? If earth was suppose to end, then this would be the way. But I honestly think 2012 is going to be the contact year with aliens, but I guess we will all see.

[cOmbustro]

nice info do more.........i love the show!

[shockolanu]

Nope, I don't want to be around that thing when it goes wrong.