said by drslash :

Click on the link and do a View, Source. :)

if the lhc actually destroys the earth & this page isn't yet updated please email mike@frantic.org to receive a full refund

said by SparkChaser :

Are you headed to Europe? You said you'd be hundred of miles from CERN which could put you in Switzerland, France or Italy.

I spent a fair amount of time in Geneva. The company I retired from had an office there. I retired a couple of years too soon. :) Now, I'll have to pay to go there :p

said by Sparrow :

Oh, you can have ALL my stuff now! As a matter of fact, save me a great deal of time and effort and take over the lease on my rent stabilized apartment and get a package deal before I sell or give all else away! I am even throwing in my car with the sole condition of being driven to the airport by whomever is the lucky winner! :D

I shall check the link later, and thank you.

Edit for rusty .html skills

said by drslash :

Click on the link and do a View, Source. :)

said by drslash :

To keep an eye on things:

»hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroy···yet.com/

said by Doctor Four :

It is confirmed that there is one at the center of our
galaxy. It is about 4 million solar masses in size, and
is not all that active anymore. It is known as Sagittarius A.

said by Doctor Four :

So is this that giant sucking sound H. Ross Perot warned
everyone about several years ago? (I think it was during
the 1996 Presidential election campaign).

said by Matt :

Did you know it is probable there is one at the center of EVERY galaxy, including our own?

said by Pete Zaa :

All kidding aside, were you able to see anything of the start-up? I guess with the website getting hammered, you're only hope of non-stop coverage would be through, say, BBC America or something? [shrugs]

Was the start-up given much coverage in the American media? The fact that CERN is located in Europe (where?) would seem two strikes against it, but it would be nice to be pleasantly surprised for a change.

said by Sparrow :

I know. I gave up trying, but at least we are still alive to try! :D

said by Sparrow :

When the LHC goes full power, I shall be a few hundred miles away as opposed to 4,000 + now.

said by Maccawolf :

DAMNED it, I'm still here.... :huh:

said by jwersan :

If this thing does create a "Black Hole", how long after the creation before we die??

said by SparkChaser :

The site is so clogged, it's hard to get anything, even still photos. :(

said by capecoddah :

Gee, 11:00 news was replaced by Comedy Central. THAT'S the implosion!

said by Matt :

it's sensationalism at its best.

said by Matt :

Did you know it is probable there is one at the center of EVERY galaxy, including our own?

said by Matt :

You have the media to thank for that. Ask any self respecting physicist and they will tell you that is an extremely foolish name.

This particle is simply believed to be the particle that gives things mass. While groundbreaking (imagine if we learn to manipulate it? Anti-gravity anyone?) it's hardly worthy of being called "God."

said by Pete Zaa :

The kicker here is that whether or not it's a good or accurate term depends entirely upon the connotations assigned to it by a given individual. And whether they are able to get past those connotations.

In literal terms, (denotation) the name refers to a particle which, if it's existence can be confirmed, will help tie together the modern understanding of how the world around us works. And since names are simply guideposts to reality, it doesn't really matter what I call something, does it? I mean, changing the name of something in no way changes the physical nature of that "something," only the way in which it is referred to. For instance, I can refer to Madeleine Albright as "Pamela Anderson" all I want, but she is still going to retain her, uh, distinctive appearance.

But the connotations (emotional associations) that go along with the word "God" may indeed make it a poor choice. Because the word "God" may evoke different connotations with me than it might with you.

But the point I'm trying to get to here is that the "God" of religion may be interpreted by some religionists to be, not necessarily an old guy with a beard, but a unifying force. And as far as some physicists are concerned, that's exactly what they are trying to discover as well: a unifying force. In this case, one that bestows mass on all the other particles.

But the unifying force that the physicists are seeking doesn't come with all the connotations of the "unifying force" of the religionists, d'you see?

So if you can take the phrase "God particle" and read it literally, (rather than connotatively) it doesn't come across as something all that bad. And that could be why the name has stuck for more than a decade: because if you don't get hung up on the connotations associated with the word, it's actually a very clever way of expressing an idea.

If I understand Einstein correctly, (assuming that's who you're referring to) the "God" he referred to was a unifying force that bound the universe together. And the message that he seems to have gotten from all of his thinking and research is that events don't "just happen:" there is a logic of sorts behind those events. But he seems to have rejected the idea of a personal God taking an interest in human affairs.

His chief problem was that religionists, atheists, and agnostics alike were always tripping over each other in their rush to put words into his mouth.

So while the atheists wanted to believe that Einstein's views matched theirs, and religionists wanted to believe that his views matched theirs, the truth seems to be that his views matched neither.

Shortly before his death, he wrote in a letter that he understood himself to be a "deeply religious unbeliever." Which may sound like an irreconcilable contradiction, but I think I see what he was getting at: his own "religion" was the sense of wonder and awe that he felt by glimpsing the workings of the universe.

If that was indeed the case, the meaning behind his dictum "Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind," suddenly becomes clearer (at least somewhat).

said by Sparrow :

What does make me shudder is the scientists calling the particle they are attempting to "discover" the God particle. My heart pounds with the dread anxiety of committing blasphemy simply by typing those two words out...

said by jwersan :

If this thing does create a "Black Hole", how long after the creation before we die??

Seriously, does it happen instantaneously or is there a progression to total annihilation of earth???

said by SparkChaser :

Actually I was just parroting their press release :D but further digging yields Central European Summer Time which is UTC +2 hours

said by Pete Zaa :

Please ignore what I wrote; the above is correct. I failed to factor in the additional hour for CEST.

said by SparkChaser :

Actually I was just parroting their press release :D but further digging yields Central European Summer Time which is UTC +2 hours

said by Sparrow :

, what time zone are you referring to? We have worldwide readers and it helps to clarify. :)

said by SparkChaser :

On 10 September, a first beam of protons will circulate in the LHC. The first moments in the life of the LHC will be an exciting time for the CERN staff, and will be captured by more than 250 media organizations from all over the world.

The first injection of the beam into the machine will be between 9:00 and 10:00 a. m.

said by Pete Zaa :


...I don't write things in order to inform or impress other people: I write in order to clarify my thoughts and rationalize my perspective to myself. Because it's no good having thoughts and perspectives that don't hold together when exposed to other thoughts and perspectives, is it?

said by Pete Zaa :

Perhaps the real difficulty is that we tend to view the world in terms of "self" and "other." And part of the process of dealing with "other" is assigning labels to people and things.

And then assigning attributes to those labels. Which is where we start getting into trouble.

I'm afraid that scientists and religionists may actually be reaching for the same goal. But because of the different labels that have been assigned to them, and that they themselves have chosen to assign to others, it's difficult for them to recognize that; they're too busy getting hung up on the labels.

It is said that there are three ways to attain enlightenment: knowledge, service, and prayer. And religionists may simply favor prayer as a tool to "get the job done," while scientists favor knowledge. But they are seeking, ultimately, the same goal, merely choosing different means to get there. This is just a guess on my part.

At any rate, the LHC impresses me with the amount of money, time, and effort that is spent on it. And the earnestness with which the scientists involved are pursuing their goal. For some inexplicable reason, it makes me want to take myself much less seriously.

said by Sparrow :

Pete, your posts are a pure joy to read. You balance logic, intelligence, sensitivity and an obvious open-mindedness that is sorely lacking in our world at large. (Not a comment on anyone here, simply a generalization.)

said by Sparrow :

The downside is, there is a member option at dslreports.com, to blinding block all anonymous posters, and for those who have enabled that particular option, they can not read your posts, and that is a shame.

said by Sparrow :

Sign up, if you are not simply posting anonymously to protect a member ID you may already have here.

said by Sparrow :

By the way, I know several "deeply religious unbeliever[s]", and some of them stand head and shoulders above the most seemingly devout.

said by SparkChaser :

What I was trying to say is that IMHO the description "god particle" whether used to sell books or because the author thought it sounded cute does a dis-service to science.

said by SparkChaser :


Like many of Eisenstein quotes that have god in them are taken out of context or totally misquoted.

said by Sparrow :

Sparrow is 54 years old, is influenced by no one, stubborn as the Rock of Gibraltar, believes in God, believes in science and admits not a moment's hesitation combining God and science in a single sentence. I even believe in evolution as opposed to the creation myth, and I don't think God minds at all.

Unfortunately, if you are looking to start a nit-picking competition, I must extend my sincere apology for excusing myself from this exercise, as I try not to waste my time on such frivolous BS.

said by Sukunai :

... The truth of life, is that it is more often merely boring.

You are born, you eat shit sleep and with luck reproduce and eventually die. Hopefully the things you do while not doing the above make your lifespan interesting.

I have concluded that religion is all about assuming something useful happens AFTER you die. I'd rather not wait till after I am dead to find out if I was right. Evidence suggests no one has ever come back to comment on the answer.
...

said by SparkChaser :

Thank you for the class on publishing, all of which I'm sure is close to the truth however I am talking about science and the influence on people like Sparrow

said by Pete Zaa :

I've been led to understand (and by all means correct me if I'm wrong on this) that the majority of leading scientists are either atheist or agnostic. If I may add to Blackbird's remarks, it has always been a source of fascination and wonder for me that, for a group of people who (as near as I can make out) either aren't convinced there's a God or flat-out deny His existence, they sure never seem to be able to pass up an opportunity to play Him, do they?

said by Sparrow :

What does make me shudder is the scientists calling the particle they are attempting to "discover" the God particle. My heart pounds with the dread anxiety of committing blasphemy simply by typing those two words out...

said by Pete Zaa :

for a group of people who (as near as I can make out) either aren't convinced there's a God or flat-out deny His existence, they sure never seem to be able to pass up an opportunity to play Him, do they.

said by Sparrow :

Whatever happens or doesn't happen, I have no fear of The End, and I could think of worse ways of going.

said by Blackbird :

I personally am quite fascinated by the hubris of scientists (and the governmental potentates funding them) who, on one hand, admittedly haven't any solid idea what their enormously massive high-energy experiments are going to produce, yet are clearly of the opinion that those unknowable results will be contained safely for everyone.

said by Sparrow :

only heard of it yesterday - that is more frightening than the actual experiment.

said by tapeloop :

(youtube clip)
far as raps about particle physics go, this one's pretty good.

said by CylonRed :

I don't think one death will cast a pall - the Big Dig has had far more deaths but I don't think it had a huge effect on construction delays as there were plenty of other reasons for the delays and over runs.

said by CylonRed :

It claimed a life - makes no difference what so ever in its safety and clearly has no real impact. Nor sure what it is supposed to have not helped as it has zero to do with it running...

said by CylonRed :

It will smash particles and no one else will know it is running aside from a article or 2 to the regular press and will be forgotten by the masses.

said by CylonRed :

If you have enough money - you can insure anything thru Lloyds of London and it has no bearing on how 'safe' something is.

said by CS Anon Style :

Follow »www.lhc.ac.uk/latest-news.html

Have to go out, but check all the links.

said by Sparrow :

It's in the title of the thread - September 10, 2008 is kick-off time.

said by CylonRed :

Opinions of what? What will happen? If it should have been built?

The hysteria is unfounded - people wanting to get their names in the news and papers for their 5 minutes of 'fame'.

said by Pete Za :

Any word on when (date and time) the aforementioned experiment will be taking place, exactly?

Normally, I begrudge myself extra cheese when ordering a pizza. But if I knew when this thing was going to get fired up, I could certainly make it a point to not only get a pizza, but also to ask for extra cheese and damn the expense.

(You know, seeing as how it could be my last pizza and all.)

said by Sparrow :

Pessimist's opinion: If the experiment goes awry, the entire world may be sucked into a black hole...