Glitches delay collisions at Big Bang experiment

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

Source: Reuters

Physicists at the CERN research center delayed for at least a few hours attempts on Tuesday to create mini-versions of the Big Bang after minor technical problems blocked the launch of the marathon experiment.

The experiment at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) aims to recreate the conditions of the Big Bang that led to the birth of the universe 13.7 billion years ago to examine the nature of matter and the origin of stars and planets.

"It's disappointing, but we are confident that we shall still get collisions today," said Oliver Buchmueller, one of the key figures on the project. "Still it does look like a long day ahead."

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62M2KS20100330

[Ichingcarpenter]

1. 11.47AM -- Wake up! They're back, the beams are now in position

11.47AM -- Wake up! They're back, the beams are now in position and are about to begin acceleration within minutes. Former project leader Lyn Evans was brought out for a quick interview and given just enough time to express that he's "very confident" things will go right this time.

live feed from engadget sorry reuters

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/30/large-hadron-collider-to-attempt-7-tev-proton-collisions-via-liv/

[vercetti2021]

2. And

Yet they still try? I feel like there playing a game of risk

[lazarus]

3. perfectly safe

No real risk here.

[Ian David]

7. They're.

Genius.

[Duppers]

8. stop reading & believing idiots

nt

[jmowreader]

9. There's only one risk here

They spent $10 billion to build the LHC, which can accelerate particles to 7 TeV--seven times higher than the last Biggest Accelerator There Is, Fermilab's Tevatron--to find the Higgs boson. The risk is the science surrounding the theory of the Higgs boson might be faulty and it actually needs more than 7 TeV to make it come out.

They're going to do great science on this machine, but they're going to look fucking stupid if they have to go back and say, "we need a 12 TeV accelerator to find the Higgs, sorry."

[Duppers]

12. :)

Ya think. ;) LOL

I know a few theorists who do not think the Higgs boson exists and are welcoming the opportunity to prove it.

[Posteritatis]

13. They're making noises about upgrading this one to 14 TeV in a couple years

So there's at least a growing margin to work in at least.

Of course there's always the risk of "hey, we found something awesome! Wanna bet that we could find something awesomer if we had a 25 TeV accellerator?"

[Dead_Parrot]

4. Just time for a quick bite before the action starts...

[lazarus]

5. beams aligned

collisions happening. And the world is just fine.

[Delphinus]

6. Yea!

Can't wait to see what they find! This is exciting!

[Rozlee]

10. My wingnut neighbor was terrified last year that black holes were going to suck us into the End Days

I would have been happy if they'd sucked off Boehner's tan. I'm so excited, too. It's terrible that a new generation or more of great scientific experiments and discoveries probably won't be made in the U.S. because of the relio-fascists idiots controlling our government.

[Swede]

11. Bazinga!

[Blandocyte]

14. They need the little teeny Jesus to create the mini Big Bang

soon as he's ready, it's GO TIME!