60,000 Computers Primed For Big Bang Probe

Largest Physics Experiment Ever Could Revolutionize Our Understanding Of The Universe

(AP)  When scientists fire up the biggest physics experiment in history this week they will face a task that makes finding a needle in a haystack look simple.

Inside a 17-mile tunnel deep beneath the French-Swiss border they hope to detect evidence of extra dimensions, invisible "dark matter" and an elusive particle called the Higgs boson.

Success in this $10 billion endeavor would revolutionize our understanding of the universe.

But even the massive computing power at the European Organization for Nuclear Research can't sift through all the data that will pour in when its particle-smashing experiment begins on Wednesday.

So the Geneva-based lab, known by its old French acronym CERN, devised a way of sharing the burden among dozens of leading computing centers around the world.

The result is the "LHC Grid," a global network of 60,000 computers that will analyze what happens when protons are hurled at each other inside CERN's Large Hadron Collider.

"This is the next step after the Web," says David Colling, a scientist at Britain's Imperial College, which is contributing to the Grid. "Except that unlike the Web, you're sharing computing power and not files."

That computing power is needed if scientists are to find what they are looking for among the mountains of data produced when four giant detectors - 10 times more accurate than any previous instruments - begin measuring activity at the subatomic level.

"You can think of each experiment as a giant digital camera with around 150 million pixels taking snapshots 600 million times a second," explains CERN's Ian Bird, who leads the Grid project.

Sophisticated filters discard all but the most interesting data, still leaving some 15 petabytes to be analyzed each year. That's enough to fill two million DVDs.

The data are sent via high-speed lines to 11 top research institutions in Europe, North America and Asia, and from there to a wider network of some 150 research facilities around the world where they can be scrutinized by thousands of researchers.

"The LHC experiment would not be possible without this infrastructure, that's why particle physicists have really driven the Grid," says Colling.

Building a new computer center at CERN would have been impractical and costly, so scientists proposed a distributed network that makes use of each country's own research facilities, ensures they all have equal access and gives them a chance to share in the glory of any discovery.

Already the experience of collaborating on such a large computing project has proved invaluable, says Ruth Pordes, executive director of the Open Science Grid at Fermilab in Chicago. The U.S.-government funded project is among the major contributors to the LHC Grid.

"We are doing things that are at the boundaries of science," says Pordes. "But the technologies, the methods and the results will be picked up by industry."

Scientists expect grid computing to become more widely used in future for research ranging from new drugs to more effective nuclear power. Eventually, consumers will start seeing it used in daily life to regulated traffic, predict the weather or even boost a flagging economy.

"In credit risk, the amount of money you can lend out is directly proportional to how many calculations you can do to quantify your risk," notes Imperial's David Colling.

So even if the LHC experiment doesn't yield answers to the cosmic questions posed by physicists at CERN, historians may one day see it as a key step in the development of networked computing.

It wouldn't be the first time that has happened at CERN. In 1990 a young British researcher there created a computer-based system for sharing information with colleagues around the world.

He called it the World Wide Web.

[human_bean]

This truly is my last post. I have more important things to do than to continue to argue with lostusadream.

My advice to him, her, or anyone else that might be tuning in: In this life, it is most important to develop, a sense of humor, critical thinking skills, reasoned thought, empathy for others, and a sense of self-worth.

See you around the web.

[human_bean]

Do you truly feel the opinion of four persons who write commentary on a CNN article should outweigh the thousands of scientists worldwide? The fact is, proton collisions such as this are happening every second of every day %u2013 the LHC is simply designed to make one happen at a certain time at a certain location so that we may study it.

You are correct in your statement that energy can be transformed but does not vanish. Black holes, once thought to be permanent, dissipate by leaking a form of thermal energy known as Hawking radiation. The black holes that could possibly be created during a proton collision would be fractions of femtometres in size (smaller than one millionth of a nanometer) and should dissipate instantaneously.

And, from what I know (and again, a scientist could answer this more completely), a strangelet is a binding of different types of quarks into a strange star-like formation that doesn%u2019t exist in regular matter - and they may therefore form the basis of dark matter (which we know exists, but know little about). Strangelets exist in calculations, but we have never observed one in the real world (That is one of the things LHC was designed to do).

What we could discover about our world using the LHC is astounding, and this is precisely why scientists worldwide are so excited about it.

[human_bean]

(Continued from above)

I am far more concerned by a couple of your statements that indicate a general refutation of reasoned thought.

You state that %u201Cwe should not be delving into experiments to find out why the big bang occurred.%u201D

Why? If this purely a safety concern, I will accept that (although I would expect evidence to support your claim.) However, the juxtaposition of this statement with other statements outlining your religious beliefs makes it seem as though you think these experiments are %u201Cevil%u201D or %u201Cgoing against the will of God,%u201D which would be silly. If we followed that edict we%u2019d all still believe we are standing on a flat Earth looking up at a firmament.

The second statement that concerns me is your assertion, %u201C%u2026you will never convince me otherwise!%u201D

Why? Refusing to listen to and evaluate evidence is the very definition of unreasonable. Science is always an incomplete understanding of our world that is revised by the discovery of new evidence. If scientists were this stubborn, Einstein would never have convinced them to abandon the concept of a static universe and an aether.

And yes, %u201Chuman bean%u201D was meant to be a pun. Lighten up.

[lostusadream]

(cont''d from previos post)I believe in God, the Holy Trinity, the ultimate mystery, maker of the earth and the heavens, I believe in the %u201Cman%u201D in the clouds, pity you the man who does not. I do not think that we should be delving into experiments to find out why the big bang occurred. This is my opinion. I accept that the universe formed as it happened and accept that we are here at this time and space. My feelings on this subject are way different than all the rest of you that support the LHC, Too bad, deal with it! I think this is BAD science. I don%u2019t think it is safe, deal with it, you will never convince me otherwise!

[lostusadream]

(cont''d from previous post)So, Human bean, (By the way, is your posting name a cutesy play on words or do you not know how to spell %u201Cbeing%u201D? People who live in glass houses should not throw stones, but I digress) where does this energy go? Do you know? Suppose the earth%u2019s magnetic fields captures it . Suppose for all the times the LHC runs, these tiny black holes merge, What would happen, do you Know? What do you know about Strangelets? I don%u2019t have a masters or PhD in physics. If you know, tell us, state how you know. Is this Conjecture or proof, or just a personal opinion. If you don%u2019t know then you have no reason or basis to be so supercritical of those who have concerns or opinions that are different from yours. Believe me, If I had the power to stop the LHC I would.

[lostusadream]

On CNNs website toady in commentary on their article about the LHC, no less than 4 persons also had concerns about the SAFETY of this Machine. I share those concerns because the people running this program are too quick to dismiss the possibility that things may go wrong.
The fact of the matter is that, a black hole is energy, not a void. When energy is transformed, it doesn%u2019t matter how small, it does not just Vanish as these scientists state. They claim that these minute black holes pass thru the earth, is this conjecture or do they have proof? On what do they base this claim? How do they know it passes through the earth. Simple high school science states that energy can be transformed but does not vanish, as these scientists state.

[human_bean]

I''m glad you''ve come around lostusadream. I wouldn''t mind conversing with you all further, but it seems this string has pretty much run its course. I would post my email, but web crewlers being what they are, it would get picked up - and I prefer to keep my email address spam free.

Best of luck to you all.

lostusadream says "I''''m glad you guys found each other. Maybe you should exchange e-mail address."

[lostusadream]

I''m glad you guys found each other. Maybe you should exchange e-mail address.

[lewiston14]

Bean an isotope is a good example. Thank you.
I wonder if whats his name figured out yet what forum chat is used for to talk about things rather then make up blanket statements. If I miss a period or comma cut me some slack. Welcome to the wonder world of cancer.

[human_bean]

Well, it%u2019s too late for the tinfoil hat, reports today say the CERN supercollider was successfully tested today and (big surprise) the Earth is still here. (Granted, the larger experiment comes later, so by all means please send the foil hat blueprints post-haste!

As for lostusadream contninuing to call us names, only time will tell.


Lewiston14 says %u201CPS: Ill post lostusadream detailed step by step instructions how to make a tin foil hat as soon as he digs his way out of the closet. I gather his efforts on the official level were not entirely successful. Gives him time to buy a roll of tin foil but remember tin is toxic to. LOL Do you think he will start calling us names again after you blew him out of the water? I doubt it.%u201D