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The Large Hadron Collider Has Been Recreated In Lego

Posted by Soulskill on from the lego-black-hole-soon-to-destroy-earth dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The Large Hadron Collider has many fans, and one of its biggest is Sasha Mehlhase, a physicist from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen. Mehlhase has decided to help promote the LHC to students by taking the time to recreate a 1:50 scale model of it using Lego bricks. In total he spent 81 hours creating it, which was split between 48 hours of designing the model on his laptop, and a further 33 hours putting it together."

66 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. Don't tell me... by Tablizer · · Score: 1, Informative

    and tomorrow he starts building his girlfriend.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Don't tell me... by yotto · · Score: 4, Informative

      I hope his wife doesn't get mad! /I know, shame on me for Ring TFA.

      --
      Pulp Audio Weekly - Geek News and Reviews
    2. Re:Don't tell me... by impaledsunset · · Score: 1

      He found a way to build the universe from scratch (with LEGO), a girlfriend is only the next logical step.

    3. Re:Don't tell me... by Adriax · · Score: 4, Funny

      Nah, tomorrow starts the search for the so called god brick. The elusive brick thought to bind all other bricks together.

      --
      I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
    4. Re:Don't tell me... by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 3, Funny

      Nah, tomorrow starts the search for the so called god brick. The elusive brick thought to bind all other bricks together.

      Oh sure, it's all fun and games until he accidentally creates a tiny square black hole and then we are all screwed!

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
    5. Re:Don't tell me... by Ihmhi · · Score: 4, Funny

      Nah, tomorrow starts the search for the so called god brick. The elusive brick thought to bind all other bricks together.

      Oh sure, it's all fun and games until he accidentally creates a tiny square black hole and then we are all screwed!

      They already occur naturally due to a quirk in quantum mechanics known as "Brickbuilder's Box". Whenever you search for a piece that you need in a bin full of bricks, it will always be where you cannot find it even though you swear you saw it just a second ago. That is because it is in square black hole. When you no longer need the brick, the black hole dissipates and the brick returns.

      --
      Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
  2. Discovered the Play-doh Particle by retroworks · · Score: 1

    Or proved that Beyblades can exceed the speed of light.

    --
    Gently reply
  3. Not the whole LHC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    The ATLAS module is not the only module on the LHC but yes still impressive.

    1. Re:Not the whole LHC by msauve · · Score: 1

      Thank you.

      A 1:50 scale model of the LHC would involve a 172 m diameter circle of Legos, hardly something a single person could built in 81 hours.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    2. Re:Not the whole LHC by tsa · · Score: 2

      OK then build it in 82 hours. But seriously, it would be cool to have such a model in Legoland.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    3. Re:Not the whole LHC by Matheus · · Score: 1

      Ya. I was severely disappointed to see only one detector when I clicked through.

      I wanted the whole doughnut (in a Lego(TM) cave for bonus points!)

    4. Re:Not the whole LHC by mcelrath · · Score: 1

      Don't worry, I'm sure at least 73 CMS, ALICE and LHCb grad students and postdocs are squirreled away right now making Lego models. But I bet they won't make Slashdot. Oh and CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) is very dense, I think one would have to use metal Legos...while plastic probably approximates the density of ATLAS pretty well.

      --
      1^2=1; (-1)^2=1; 1^2=(-1)^2; 1=-1; 1=0.
  4. Only way to prove the existence.. by formfeed · · Score: 4, Funny

    .. of the predicted 1x1 block is to let lots of legos collide and look at the resulting blocks.

    1. Re:Only way to prove the existence.. by Mitchell314 · · Score: 3, Funny

      And research has finally proven that the binding forces from the natural four fields is, in fact, caused by pegs [now known to be bosons] binding to empty sockets [fermions].

      This new finding nicely fits the currently held model that repulsive forces are caused by restraining orders and subatomic-particle on subatomic-particle homophobia. Yet another great day for Science!

      --
      I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
  5. Correction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's not the whole LHC - it's the detector part.

    1. Re:Correction by Goaway · · Score: 2

      One detector, out of many.

      The original articles explain this, but apparently geek.com isn't quite bright enough to understand all those WORDS.

    2. Re:Correction by Dogtanian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's not the whole LHC - it's the detector part.

      Was I the only person who read the summary and thought "even at 1:50 scale, that's going to be damn massive" (couldn't remember the exact size, but I knew it was big- having checked, the circumference of the whole thing is 27km, or around 16 miles)?

      Then pretty quickly twigged that they probably hadn't built the whole thing, checked the article, and was right.

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    3. Re:Correction by DerekLyons · · Score: 1

      It's not the whole LHC - it's the detector part.

      It's not even the detector part(s) (there are seven such) - it's *a* detector.

  6. Where's the rest of it? by The+Yuckinator · · Score: 2

    I see the ATLAS experiment but where's the room-sized Lego tunnel?

    1. Re:Where's the rest of it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I love LEGOs but I don't get this one -- its much cooler to wonder through a virtual 3D model of the detectors -- that way you can tweak the effects of special relativity to see what a decay product sees at various beta's.

      Oh well, end of the year time for LHC stories because the legal trolls and the courts the abuse are all closed 'til after the New Year.

    2. Re:Where's the rest of it? by Yvan256 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      CNCs made of LEGOs are much cooler. Especially this one.

  7. Lego, please buy these plans from them... by Zargg · · Score: 2

    so we can all buy this as a kit and have one for ourselves! Very nicely done!

    1. Re:Lego, please buy these plans from them... by Dan+East · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Considering the legos required to build this model cost $2,600, I doubt Lego would be selling too many of these sets. This also gives a good idea of just how overpriced these little chunks of plastic are.

      --
      Better known as 318230.
    2. Re:Lego, please buy these plans from them... by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Not sure where that number comes from, but I doubt it's that much. I saw a box of 1600 assorted bricks at Walmart for $40, and this model only hat 9500 bricks. That's only around $240 worth of bricks. Mind you, you might not have the exact bricks you want, but somehow I doubt you would have to spend 10x the amount, since from what I can see none of the bricks are anything special. I wonder if Lego accepts special orders for people taking on big projects. I be they would have sent him some bricks at a good price if he sent them a copy of his plans.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    3. Re:Lego, please buy these plans from them... by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If it genuinely cost that much it would be due to him buying more sets than he needed to get the appropriate pieces. If Lego made a set that wouldn't be required. They obviously have capability to create the bricks he used already. They'd just have to include the right blocks so I'd get it would be in the $100 to $200 range.

    4. Re:Lego, please buy these plans from them... by Macrat · · Score: 1

      Especially when you can just go to the Lego store and buy the bricks you want by the bag full.

    5. Re:Lego, please buy these plans from them... by SecurityGuy · · Score: 2

      Have you checked the prices on Legos lately? Damned expensive, even for kids' sets. Give it another generation and $2,600 will be in the ballpark.

    6. Re:Lego, please buy these plans from them... by Zargg · · Score: 1

      hehe yea true, I am astounded at the price of some kids toys these days, for how little they do. I guess I also follow the /. tradition even as a noob, I didn't read the price in the article! However thetoadwarrior is right, if Lego made the set, it wouldn't be that expensive. But still just plastic!

    7. Re:Lego, please buy these plans from them... by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 1

      It would make more sense for LEGO to bundle the plans with an "expansion pack" and "encourage" people to pay the extra -- less than he did, but more than they currently do.

      Of course, I think LEGO should just go whole hog and recreate the entire collider. Bonus points for a new LEGO-boatswain block ;)

  8. Damn, the lego atom smasher works too! by itsybitsy · · Score: 1

    If it was that easy to build an atom smasher every kid would be doing it! Oh wait they are, every time they throw something!!! Must crush, mush destroy, must obliterate! Must!!! Muh ha ha!

    1. Re:Damn, the lego atom smasher works too! by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Do not look into particle stream with remaining eye.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  9. What? Still no Higgs Boson in Box? by Bob_Who · · Score: 1

    What a jip....I can't see the small pieces...

  10. Actually it isn't the WHOLE thing by wisebabo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The pictures in TFA show that he (and his friends and poor wife) show that he just built the detectors.

    While very impressive, he (obviously) didn't build the complete ring. Even at 1:50 scale it would be a mile in circumference. Now that's a lot of LEGOs!

    1. Re:Actually it isn't the WHOLE thing by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 3, Informative

      Even at 1:50 scale it would be a mile in circumference.

      Actually the LHC has a 27km circumference which, at 1:50 scale, would become a 540m circumference which is only about a third of a mile.

  11. Lego Boson Spotted! by ryanmcdonough · · Score: 1

    One of the more useless lego pieces they have produced.

  12. Wrooooooong! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    He recreated ATLAS, which is one of the detectors at the LHC, beside ALICE, CMS, LHCb and further smaller experiments.

  13. It's ATLAS, a small part of LHC by zill · · Score: 1

    LHC is 8.6km in diameter. A 1:50 scale model would still be 172 meters in diameter.

    This guy built a 1:50 scale model of the ATLAS detector ; the first picture even has the inscriptions "ATLAS" in lego letters.

    1. Re:It's ATLAS, a small part of LHC by J_Darnley · · Score: 1

      circumference = pi * diameter
      8.6 * 3.14 = 27.0

  14. Where's the Lego Higgs Bozon? by david.emery · · Score: 1

    That piece will certainly be a collector's item!

  15. Excellent idea in the article by Announcer · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The author suggests that the Lego company should produce models of real-world scientific devices of all levels of complexity, from simple machines, to Tesla coils, etc, all the way up to this. (No, not WORKING Tesla coils!)

    I think this is an idea that is well worth pursuing. Granted, it probably won't outsell "Star Wars" toys any time soon, but for one thing, the GEEK FACTOR is off the scale! I think there are plenty of kids (and parents too) who would definitely buy such Lego sets! I'd even be interested, myself... and I'm pushing 50!

    --
    Willie...
    1. Re:Excellent idea in the article by schroedingers_hat · · Score: 1

      I cannot describe how much of an awesome idea this is.

    2. Re:Excellent idea in the article by GNious · · Score: 2

      Greek-appeal, certainly, but I suspect only geeky parents would buy it for their kids - try bringing your child to a Lego store (e.g. in Köln), and see what bits they head for first...

    3. Re:Excellent idea in the article by houghi · · Score: 2

      Who needs sets if you have Lego? I thought the whole point was to use your imagination and use the standard blocks.
      Just like a stick is not a perfect sword, it makes for a great light saber. The same with Lego. Give a kid the standard blocks and it can build anything. Colors don't even matter.

      The building (and destroying) is the fun part. I made people from Lego long before they came pre-build. ull block. On top of that a half block, full one and then a half one. Looked like an upside down F. Sure, it was not to scale with everything else, but I did not care. I had build an army that was destroyed about 3 minutes later and became a tank and then a boat and then ...

      Sets? We don't need no freakin' sets. (Now get of m,y lawn)

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    4. Re:Excellent idea in the article by Roogna · · Score: 1

      It's not far out of whack for some of the sets Lego makes now either. While doing holiday shopping this year for our daughter I was highly impressed by the Architecture sets at the Lego store.

    5. Re:Excellent idea in the article by Announcer · · Score: 1

      I referred to "sets" simply because this is the way Lego has been selling for years, now.

      When I was a kid, all we had were blocks. Even plain ol' wheels were RARE! We made everything from the basic bricks, building, smashing, rebuilding... exactly as you described.

      Now, having helped my nephew build a few Lego "models" (a reasonable description, IMHO) over the years, I also understand the appeal of these custom sets. They have taken the place of the plastic models we had to glue together when we were kids. Now, they just snap... and if you have enough OTHER Lego sets, your imagination can still go wild! Take parts from each, and come up with something unique... as kids will do!

      The idea is for the PARENTS to GET INVOLVED with their kids. I can't help but picture geeky parents having geeky kids... it would just kinda rub off, but also, the children would be NURTURED in their pursuits of all things "geeky"! How do non-geeky parents end up with geeky kids? I don't know, but they do! Yours Truly is a geek, born to non-geeky parents. :)

      --
      Willie...
  16. Inaccurate Title? by Turnerj · · Score: 2

    The second link's title more accurately describes what was built. I also expected to see a giant LEGO ring but I guess if 1:50 scale is still a little too big to build it out of LEGO, I might let it pass this time.

  17. Not the LHC by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 2

    Actually it is the ATLAS Experiment (not module) which is an experiment on the LHC. The LHC actually passes through the middle of the detector.

  18. Time-consuming... by Synchblade · · Score: 1

    Wow, 81 hours? And more than half of it designing it? And it's not even the whole thing...
    That said, he must have way too much time on his hands.

    1. Re:Time-consuming... by Goaway · · Score: 2

      81 hours is pocket change for a hobby. That's a couple of hours a day for a month.

      Is your life seriously so devoid of creativity that a little bit of effort like that makes you feel the need to mock him?

    2. Re:Time-consuming... by Synchblade · · Score: 1

      My apologies... http://slashdot.org/journal/275500/lets-settle-our-differences/.

  19. Re:just wait by Nikker · · Score: 2

    ....And why would *we* have to wait for this to happen?

    --
    A loop, by its nature, continues. If that didn't make sense, start reading this sentence again.
  20. Re:Lego? Seriously? Show it to us in Minecraft! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Lego: genuine creativity inducer

    Minecraft: autism simulator

  21. Meh by Culture20 · · Score: 1

    Let me know when they get around to finding the God brick.

  22. Bricks by ProzacPatient · · Score: 1

    Bricks have been shat

  23. Re:Lego plural by _0xd0ad · · Score: 2

    No. LEGO is the brand name. They are LEGO bricks. They are not Legos.

  24. This is valuable research by vk2sky · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Higgs Boson is like that oddball tiny LEGO piece that always finds its way down to the bottom of the tub and wedges itself inside another piece.

  25. ironic ad by geezer+nerd · · Score: 1

    I chuckled a bit to myself when this posting came up in the Yahoo blog reader with a Google ad for steel and aluminium trench-shoring solutions.

  26. Re:Lego plural by vk2sky · · Score: 2

    The plural of Lego is Legos.

    Well, if you're going to be picky, the singular of "Lego" is "LEGO" :-)

  27. Logic gates diagram by Flammon · · Score: 2

    Bonus points for the logic gates diagram on the whiteboard.

    --
    ayottesoftware.com
  28. Pbbt. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    81 hours for a scale model? Tony Stark built a working particle accelerator in a weekend.

  29. Am I the only one by steelframe · · Score: 1

    who can't get the words Large Hardon Collider out of my mind. Once I thought it I see it every time.

  30. Re:What? Still no Higgs Boson in Box? by SEWilco · · Score: 1

    Don't worry, it is designed to make small pieces out of the big pieces until he has some Higgs bricks.

  31. Not the whole thing. by Bryan+Bytehead · · Score: 1

    Too bad, I would have like to have seen a Lego black hole created.

    --
    Bryan
  32. Roomsized? by tinkerton · · Score: 1

    that would be a 500m by 500m room.

  33. Biscotti? by GrantRobertson · · Score: 1

    Did he make a tiny air vent for a tiny Lego bird to drop a tiny Lego biscotti down?

  34. Re:Lego plural by _0xd0ad · · Score: 1

    No. It has not. It does not. It is not.

    http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4003:ok1hd4.2.4

    LEGO is a registered trademark. LEGO-brand bricks are not "legos", they are LEGO bricks. Non-LEGO-brand bricks are not "legos", they are small plastic non-LEGO toy bricks.

    Using "legos" to refer to them just makes you sound like an uneducated fool. The fact that you've been told otherwise and will continue to do so makes you a stubborn fool. Go right ahead, I won't stop you - although if you have any money I'm sure LEGO would love to sue you into oblivion.