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Large Hadron Collider Goes Live September 10th

Naznarreb writes "CERN announced today that the first attempt to circulate a beam through the Large Hadron Collider will be on September 10th, 2008. You can read the press release here. They also announced the event will be webcast live. According to the release, they're just planning to run a few tests laps, not smash any particles, so the world won't be ending quite yet." And despite that September 10th date, according to the BBC, "On 9 August, protons will be piped through LHC magnets for the first time."

46 of 409 comments (clear)

  1. September 10th? by suso · · Score: 4, Funny

    And will take 1 day to warm up right?

    1. Re:September 10th? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      No. Cool down. The reason that everyone has been waiting for the last couple of months is for the system to cool to less than 2 K. That is what is limiting the operation of the complete LHC.

    2. Re:September 10th? by Red+Flayer · · Score: 4, Funny

      The reason that everyone has been waiting for the last couple of months is for the system to cool to less than 2 K.

      Less than 2K what? Two thousand Centigrade? Fahrenheit? Damn n00bs and their lack of units, don't you realize that's the kind of mistake that swallows worlds in a fit of microblackholish pique???

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    3. Re:September 10th? by Rycross · · Score: 5, Informative

      "Two degrees Kelvin" is actually improper terminology. Kelvin does not use the degree simple. You simply say "Two Kelvin."

      On another hope, I really hope you weren't joking with that. If so, then I just got whooshed!

    4. Re:September 10th? by hclewk · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Well, if it had the degree symbol between the 2 and the K.

      He didn't put the degree symbol between the 2 and the K because it isn't "2 degrees kelvin" it's "2 kelvin", like "2 kilograms" or "2 meters"

    5. Re:September 10th? by fishbowl · · Score: 5, Funny

      >Such as yourself?

      I slept through middle school, high school, undergrad chemistry and physics, slept through my masters, and am sleeping on the job at my university environmental research gig.

      Any questions?

      --
      -fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
    6. Re:September 10th? by LionMage · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually, to be even more anal, the plural form "kelvins" should only be used to indicate temperature intervals (differences between temperatures); when indicating specific temperatures, the singular form is used. Take a gander at this section of the Wikipedia article for examples.

      And remember, there's always a bigger pedant out there somewhere. :-)

    7. Re:September 10th? by mobby_6kl · · Score: 5, Funny

      I slept through middle school, high school, undergrad chemistry and physics, slept through my masters, and am sleeping on the job at my university environmental research gig.

      Any questions?

      Yes, how can I be more like you?

    8. Re:September 10th? by tobiasly · · Score: 4, Funny

      And remember, there's always a bigger pedant out there somewhere. :-)

      Great, now I'm gonna have nightmares about pedant bear.

  2. Aaaahhhhhhh !! by unity100 · · Score: 4, Funny

    It is a good day to die !!!!!

  3. Obligatory LHC by psyclone · · Score: 4, Informative

    The other LHC

  4. Re:Timeline rewriting to begin shortly thereafter. by PC+and+Sony+Fanboy · · Score: 4, Funny

    Unless, of course, we're finally in the timeline where the LHC never quite works.

    OR the timeline where you're the only non-cloned human left alive, surrounded by clones of your ex-girlfriend. Then you'll wish you didn't get on her bad side right before 'the accident'.

  5. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by schklerg · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws. So I think we'd hear about it first.

    --
    Be Excellent To Each Other
  6. OB Futurama by notnAP · · Score: 4, Funny

    FARNSWORTH: So what are you doing to protect my constitutional right to bear doomsday devices?

    N.R.A. MAN: Well, first off, we're gonna get rid of that three-day waiting period for mad scientists.

    FARNSWORTH: Damn straight! Today, the mad scientist can't get a doomsday device, tomorrow it's the mad grad student. Where will it end?

  7. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by Gotung · · Score: 4, Informative

    There is virtually zero chance the LHC will produce micro-black holes.

    Even if it somehow does, they will very likely dissipate in fractions of a second.

    Even if they doe form, and are stable, they will be so small so as to sink to the center of the earth and star devouring it at the alarming pace of 1 atom a year.

    For frame of reference you have about 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms in your body.

    So it would take billions of lifetimes (or more) for you to even notice the effects if one were stuck in you.

  8. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by clem · · Score: 4, Funny

    Easier to ask forgiveness that permission. Especially easy if there's no one left to ask forgiveness of.

    --
    Your courageous and selfless spelling corrections have made me a better person.
  9. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by SBacks · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sorry to self-reply, but even once it got going, it wouldn't destroy us immediately. A black hole with the mass of the Earth still only has Schwarzschild radius of 1.5cm.

    http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/astro/blkhol.html

  10. Push the button, Dr. Freeman by wreave · · Score: 5, Funny

    Looks like 9 September will be a good day to charge up my HEV suit and sharpen my crowbar...

  11. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by pha7boy · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'll keep my towel handy

    --
    -- All this knowledge is giving me a raging brainer.
  12. Anyone else getting this error from that link? by ChangeOnInstall · · Score: 5, Funny

    HTTP 599
    Service Permanently Unavailable

    The server you are trying to contact has crossed the event horizon of a black hole.

    --
    What has *science* done?!? -- Dr. Weird (ATHF)
    1. Re:Anyone else getting this error from that link? by Experiment+626 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That would be HTTP 410.

      "The 410 (Gone) status code SHOULD be used if the server knows, through some internally configurable mechanism, that an old resource is permanently unavailable and has no forwarding address." (RFC 2616)

      There's no excuse for such incorrect implementation of standard protocols, even if the catastrophic destruction of the earth is involved.

  13. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

    it would be destroyed almost immediately due to Hawking radiation.

    Awesome. I always knew Stephen Hawking was a badass, but now I find out he's a superhero with the power to destroy black holes!

    I can see it now: thousands of people panic through the streets, while Stephen Hawking slowly wheels himself into a phone booth, only to fly out a second later and fly to the black hole, destroying it instantly with his Hawking radiation eye-beams! That's going to be sooo cool!

    I must admit, his disguise is ingenious. I never suspected he was anything other than a mild-mannered physicist.

  14. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by icebike · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh, thank heavens... So beach front property in Geneva is still a good investment then...?

    --
    Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
  15. Crowbar already sent to CERN by Xian97 · · Score: 5, Funny

    A red crowbar has been sent to CERN in anticipation of the LHC particle accelerator going online.

    http://www.destructoid.com/reddit-sends-crowbar-to-scientists-to-protect-against-headcrabs-98281.phtml

  16. Top 10 Ways to DESTROY the Earth!!! by itsybitsy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Darn the LHC is only number eight on the list. http://www.livescience.com/technology/destroy_earth_mp-1.html

    Sucked into a microscopic black hole

    You will need: a microscopic black hole. Note that black holes are not eternal, they evaporate due to Hawking radiation. For your average black hole this takes an unimaginable amount of time, but for really small ones it could happen almost instantaneously, as evaporation time is dependent on mass. Therefore you microscopic black hole must have greater than a certain threshold mass, roughly equal to the mass of Mount Everest. Creating a microscopic black hole is tricky, since one needs a reasonable amount of neutronium, but may possibly be achievable by jamming large numbers of atomic nuclei together until they stick. This is left as an exercise to the reader. [I love that part].

    Method: simply place your black hole on the surface of the Earth and wait. Black holes are of such high density that they pass through ordinary matter like a stone through the air. [Yeah, so then how will I place it *on* the Earth. Lousy instructions.] The black hole will plummet through the ground, eating its way to the center of the Earth and all the way through to the other side: then, it'll oscillate back, over and over like a matter-absorbing pendulum. Eventually it will come to rest at the core, having absorbed enough matter to slow it down. Then you just need to wait, while it sits and consumes matter until the whole Earth is gone.

    Highly, highly unlikely. But not impossible.

    Earth's final resting place: a singularity of almost zero size, which will then proceed to happily orbit the Sun as normal.

    Source: "The Dark Side Of The Sun," by Terry Pratchett. It is true that the microscopic black hole idea is an age-old science fiction mainstay which predates Pratchett by a long time, he was my original source for the idea, so that's what I'm putting.

  17. My 2 cents by electricbern · · Score: 5, Funny

    If nothing comes from this demonstration but a black hole it will definitely suck.

    --
    alias possession='chmod 666 satan && ls /dev > il && tail daemon.log'
    1. Re:My 2 cents by CorporateSuit · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't think you understand the gravity of this situation.

      --
      I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
  18. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by Nos. · · Score: 4, Funny

    No way, I'm not getting sucked into that again.

  19. Re:Time to go on my spending spree by SBrach · · Score: 5, Funny

    Your statement is true even if they never turn on the LHC.

  20. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by kungfugleek · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah. He looks totally different without his glasses. You can't even recognize him.

  21. Ok, seriously... enough with the Sept. 11 crap by Kabuthunk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, I'll probably get modded troll or something for this, but it needs saying.

    There's many comments in here about "oh, what about Sept. 11... couldn't they pick a better day?" and the like.

    NEWS FLASH: The rest of the world does NOT come to a screeching halt every Sept. 11th. All points of business are NOT put on hold on that one day of the year. The rest of the world has moved on, if they even stopped to begin with. GET OVER IT!

    LHC isn't even located in the USA for christ sakes.

    Yes, the Sept. 11 events were sad, but seriously... stop criticizing all events taking place somewhere on earth on or around that date.

    --
    Planet Zebeth - Metroid with a twist
    1. Re:Ok, seriously... enough with the Sept. 11 crap by Chris+Burke · · Score: 5, Funny

      Are you saying that 9-11 didn't change everything?

      Because 9-11 changed everything.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    2. Re:Ok, seriously... enough with the Sept. 11 crap by D-Cypell · · Score: 4, Funny

      "The rest of the world does NOT come to a screeching halt every Sept. 11th."

      The rest of the world is still scratching it's head trying to figure out what significant event happened on the 9th of November.

  22. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by Chris+Burke · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can see it now: thousands of people panic through the streets, while Stephen Hawking slowly wheels himself into a phone booth, only to fly out a second later and fly to the black hole, destroying it instantly with his Hawking radiation eye-beams! That's going to be sooo cool!

    The image is funnier to me if he never gets out of his wheelchair. He slowly wheels up, has his machine say "Take this, you bastard", and then the Hawking Radiation spews forth!

    --

    The enemies of Democracy are
  23. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by Asztal_ · · Score: 5, Funny

    Kingons and Queons are believed to travel faster than the speed of light, but I hear it's quite difficult to harness their power.

  24. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by MyLongNickName · · Score: 4, Funny

    For frame of reference you have about 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms in your body.

    If I am mostly carbon, that'd make me around 300lbs. Are you assuming I am American?

    --
    See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
  25. Re:They start smashing particles the next day by flyingsquid · · Score: 4, Funny
    Yep... Bin Laden is about to be upstaged by a supercollider. The whole war on terror to avenge the destruction of the a few buildings in NYC will seem moot after a couple of european scientists accidentally suck the entire state into a black hole.

    Maybe we've finally figured out why we haven't had any luck with SETI yet? Perhaps any civilization advanced enough to begin broadcasting in the radio spectrum will, within 100 years, start running scientific experiments that are sufficiently dangerous to cause the extinction of the species? Is that possible?

    On second thought... that's a silly theory, never mind! I'm going to go back to my very important medical experiments. It's pretty cool stuff, actually. I'm using virus-borne DNA to reanimate dead cells to help critically ill people. I think I'm on the verge of a breakthrough but they're going to cut off my funding if I don't get any results soon! Maybe I'll have to take a few shortcuts... use highly unstable, mutation-prone RNA instead of DNA... maybe skip straight to the human testing phase using this cadaver I have lying around my lab...

    Anyhow, have a good day everybody!

  26. Seeing it on the ISS by misterjava66 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Could you imagine what it would be like to be on the ISS when the earth is destroyed by a LHC mbh.

    The earth would fold up, only a 1% consumption would be needed to make it impossible to land on the earth and survive, but if the earth all went in a few hours or less. wow. And with the angular momemtum of the earth, the mbh would have to rotate on the earth's axis and the mbh would send its radiation beams away from the iss so the iss could be survivable from that prospective. Also, the aero drag would be gone and so orbital reboost would not be needed. I wonder how long they could survive? Also, since the mass of the earth/mbh doesn't change, all those nasty time-drag effects won't happen at the orbital distance of the iss.

    It would make a nice sci-fi short story noir if a multi-year survival could be speculated.

    Regards.

  27. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by corbettw · · Score: 4, Funny

    That makes me feel much better. Although, how did a micro-blackhole on Earth end up with the mass of Earth...?

    <panic mode on>

    --
    God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
  28. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by ShibaInu · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Honest question about Hawking Radiation - how do we know it really exists? As far as I know we've never directly observed a black hole and we've certainly never created one in the lab, so where is the experimental evidence to support it? Shouldn't you say that we THINK Hawking Radiation would destroy said black hole?

  29. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by f1r3f0g · · Score: 4, Funny

    Screw the towel. Where's my crowbar?

  30. Re:Notify the IEDAB by SamSim · · Score: 4, Funny

    If the Earth is completely destroyed, you will be the first to know.

  31. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by TheLostSamurai · · Score: 5, Funny

    So probably not enough time to find the nearest woman and convince her you're a virgin

    I'm sure you won't have to do much convincing.

    --
    I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.
  32. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by tenco · · Score: 4, Informative

    If I am mostly carbon, (...)

    You're not.

  33. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by david.given · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A black hole with the mass of the Earth has, at one Earth-radius, a gravitational attraction of 1g. (In other words, if you were on the far side of the moon, and the Earth suddenly turned into a black hole, you wouldn't notice.) Closer, it would be much higher. Half an earth radius from the black hole it'd be 4g, a quarter of an earth radius it'd be 8g, etc --- one kilometre away it'd be 4 million g, and one metre away it'd be 3x10^14 g. That's gonna hurt.

    So if somehow you were to magically create the 5x10^41 Joules of energy necessary to create a black hole the size of the Earth, on the Earth, I suspect we'd probably know immediately, subject to light speed limits, as the direction of down shifts abruptly followed a few seconds later by the disintegration of the planet and collapse into a accretion disc of white hot plasma. That is, those parts of the Earth that are not blasted outwards by the collapse event, which is what astrophysicists would call 'violent'.

    (Of course, *now* I realise that you were actually originally talking about the end result after the consumption of the earth by a tiny black hole, but I've done all the maths now, dammit. So I'm going to post anyway. Besides, once the tiny black hole reaches about .1 earth mass it's still going to be pretty spectacular.)

  34. Re:Get your affairs in order, people by qualidafial · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah. He looks totally different without his glasses. You can't even recognize him.

    That doesn't make any sense! He wouldn't be able to see.