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LHC Powers Up To 4 TeV

An anonymous reader writes "Due to a decision made at Chamonix, the LHC will operate with a 4 TeV beam energy in 2012. This will allow them to collect as much data as possible (15 inverse femtobarns for ATLAS and CMS) before the whole accelerator complex gets shut down for about 20 months to prepare for even higher energies. 'By the time the LHC goes into its first long stop at the end of this year, we will either know that a Higgs particle exists or have ruled out the existence of a Standard Model Higgs,' said CERN's Research Director, Sergio Bertolucci. 'Either would be a major advance in our exploration of nature, bringing us closer to understanding how the fundamental particles acquire their mass, and marking the beginning of a new chapter in particle physics.'"

9 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. Funding by SJHillman · · Score: 4, Funny

    They could easily double their funding if they told the US military there may be a way to weaponize the Higgs. Or at least they could call it a black hole gun. It might be hard to find a ship large enough to mobilize it.

  2. Re:Uncertainty by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Funny

    You must be thinking of the various bloodstained and headless subatomic particles that Schrödinger's damn cat keeps leaving just outside the lab door, after batting them around for its amusement...

  3. Re:Hmm by justforgetme · · Score: 3, Funny

    I surely hope so. I'm still waiting for that CERN engineered black hole!

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    -- no sig today
  4. Re:Hyperbole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Yes we will you pedant fuck.

  5. Re:Hmm by networkBoy · · Score: 4, Funny

    Noooo, the Romulans are the ones that use an artificial singularity in their warp drives, we need a drunk madman with a nuclear delivery vehicle.

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    whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
  6. Re:Good timing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Using the Google guidelines for "funny": Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!

  7. THC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I first read that as THC powers up, I thought they'd found some new super marijuana.

    1. Re:THC by Chris+Burke · · Score: 4, Funny

      They did, and it's rated at 4 Tev (Totally excellent Vibes).

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      The enemies of Democracy are
    2. Re:THC by game+kid · · Score: 4, Funny

      Don't bogart the bosons, maaan!

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      You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.