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Looking for Quark-Gluon Plasma?

Posted by michael on from the under-the-sofa-cushions,-probably dept.

uctbruce writes "Following the June press release from Brookhaven National Lab, nuclear physicists from around the world are discussing the results of the 4 RHIC experiments (PHOBOS, STAR, PHENIX and BRAHMS), the New York Times ran an article on the Quark Matter conference in Oakland. Have we re-created the first microseconds of the big bang in the lab? (Have a look at the Google cluster of stories)"

4 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. So are we making really short lived universes? by kabocox · · Score: 4, Interesting

    IF they actually are reproducing the moments, are they making a really short lived universes that die because the following moments didn't mimic the rest?

    Could each of these experiments create an another realty?

  2. Thank God we're still alive by linuxkrn · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's a wonder with all the experiments with fission, fusion, and now big bang that we are still alive.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm all for learning and experimenting but just scares me to think of the magnitudes these could have. We have always been experimenting with things we don't fully understand. It seems to be just a matter of time before someone ends up blowing an entire country off the face of the earth... or worse.

  3. charmed life by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "There are some things Man wasn't meant to know, Homer - important things." - Ned Flanders

    During the Manhattan Project, some physicists feared that splitting the uranium atoms with a critical mass would start a chain reaction in the atmosphere, destabilizing all nuclei within reach, thereby consuming all the matter of Earth in a total mass->energy conversion. They guessed wrong. Out in Brookhaven (only about 0.00528s from me, as the photon flies), there were similar concerns a few years ago, prior to synthesis of the first all-strange quark matter, fearing a chain reaction turning the planet entirely strange. Also turned out to be merely a paper tiger. Now we're going for these exotic hi-energy plasmas. And our high-energy and exotic-order syntheses are only accelerating in their frequency of invention. Most of these researches are funded for weapons production, which values maximum destruction. How long will our luck hold out?

    --

    --
    make install -not war

    1. Re:charmed life by HokieJP · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I agree with your description of the H/O reaction, but I think there are some problems with your last two statements.

      There are very good reasons why this isn't a practical weapon. First, the volumes required to do significant damage are huge. Imagine filling a 1,000lb bomb casing with Hydrogen and Oxygen. It wouldn't accomplish much. Of course, you could liquify it, but then your cost skyrockets. I think the closest thing to what you're discussing is the Fuel/Air explosive, which has the wholehearted endorsement of the defense industry.

      Second, if I were a pilot, and someone suggested to me that I fly around a combat zone with a cannister full of hydrogen and oxygen under my wing, I'd decline. Remember the Hindenberg? Centuries of development have given us explosives with higher activation energies.

      As to your closing statement: the universe is huge, and not at all homogenous. There are a great many things in it that haven't come anywhere near us in our planet's relatively brief existence. I'm not arguing for the atmosphere-liquification particle, I'm just saying that your reasoning is specious.