The Large Hadron Collider Has Been Recreated In Lego

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."

Comments

Not the whole LHC

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:Not the whole LHC

[tsa]

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

Only way to prove the existence..

[formfeed]

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

Re:Only way to prove the existence..

[Mitchell314]

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!

Correction

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:Correction

[Goaway]

One detector, out of many.

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

Re:Correction

[Dogtanian]

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.

Where's the rest of it?

[The Yuckinator]

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

Re:Where's the rest of it?

[Yvan256]

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

Re:Don't tell me...

[yotto]

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

Lego, please buy these plans from them...

[Zargg]

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

Re:Lego, please buy these plans from them...

[Dan East]

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.

Re:Lego, please buy these plans from them...

[thetoadwarrior]

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.

Re:Lego, please buy these plans from them...

[SecurityGuy]

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.

Actually it isn't the WHOLE thing

[wisebabo]

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!

Re:Actually it isn't the WHOLE thing

[Roger W Moore]

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.

Excellent idea in the article

[Announcer]

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!

Re:Excellent idea in the article

[GNious]

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...

Re:Excellent idea in the article

[houghi]

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)

Inaccurate Title?

[Turnerj]

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.

Not the LHC

[Roger W Moore]

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.

Re:just wait

[Nikker]

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

Re:Time-consuming...

[Goaway]

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?

Re:Lego plural

[_0xd0ad]

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

This is valuable research

[vk2sky]

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.

Re:Lego plural

[vk2sky]

The plural of Lego is Legos.

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

Re:Don't tell me...

[Adriax]

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

Logic gates diagram

[Flammon]

Bonus points for the logic gates diagram on the whiteboard.

Re:Don't tell me...

[FatdogHaiku]

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!

Re:Don't tell me...

[Ihmhi]

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.