Geneva Collider Sets Beam Energy Record

(AP)  Operators of the world's largest atom smasher on Friday ramped up their massive machine to three times the energy ever previously achieved, in the run-up to experiments probing the secrets of the universe.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) said beams of protons circulated at 3.5 trillion electron volts in both directions around the 17-mile tunnel housing the Large Hadron Collider under the Swiss-French border at Geneva.

The next major development is expected in a few days when CERN starts colliding the beams in a new round of research to examine the tiniest particles and forces within the atom in hopes of finding out more about how matter is made up.

The collider in December had already eclipsed the record of the next most powerful machine, the Tevatron at Fermilab outside Chicago, which has been running just shy of a trillion electron volts, or TeV.

The extra energy in Geneva is expected to reveal even more about the unanswered questions of particle physics, such as the existence of dark energy and matter. Scientists hope also to approach on a tiny scale what happened in the first split seconds after the Big Bang, which they theorize was the creation of the universe some 14 billion years ago.

CERN has reported a series of successes since the collider was restarted last year after 14 months of repairs and improvements following a spectacular failure when scientists initially tried to get the machine going.

CERN improved the machine during a 2 1/2-month winter shutdown to be able to operate at the higher energy.

"Getting the beams to 3.5 TeV is testimony to the soundness of the LHC's overall design, and the improvements we've made since the breakdown in September 2008," said Steve Myers, CERN's director for accelerators and technology.

Watch "60 Minutes'" Steve Kroft Tour the Collider:


Watch CBS News Videos Online
By Associated Press Writer Alexander G. Higgins

[LHCSafety]

An independent review of the risks associated with possible black hole production at the LHC:

http://www.risk-evaluation-forum.org/LHCrisk.pdf

[P0ST1ING_AWAY]

by AnnieDanny March 19, 2010 2:21 PM EDT
Not nice. Be polite. If you know about this, could you explain WHY this is worth spending so much money on it? I haven't heard anything that convinces me, either.

Seems to me as if science has kinda run amuck with this contraption. When they finally collide their electrons, they might end up with the teensiest pile of carbon dust EVER. Or they might turn Geneva into a black hole, which, frankly, I think is ironically amusing considering the world banks are sitting on top of that collider. Whatever were they thinking when they chose the location for this monstrous machine?
==================================================================
Annie:
For one thing .... we are only funding a portion of this machine ....
not the whole thing.

Another point. There is NO SUCH THING as "intelligent design". This
concept is a ruse. It is merely religion.

Please get educated. Research the concept of "critical mass". Understanding this one concept ALONE should help you understand
why we cannot manufacture a "black hole".

[P0ST1ING_AWAY]

by rf35 March 19, 2010 9:55 AM EDT
I wonder if we might accidentally create a new universe. Maybe the intelligent design crowd is partially right; perhaps our own universe was created when someone in another universe ran an experiment like this. Thing is, we'd probably never know. Or maybe in the creation of a new universe, ours would be destroyed. Is this why we never see a creator/god? In creating us, it was killed? Nah, we'll probably just discover some cool new subatomic particles. Cheers!
==============================================================
You are EXACTLY the reason that home schooling should be banned.
Contrary to Republican opinion ... IGNORANCE IS NOT FREE.

[pragmatist1]

OK, but how is this going to improve my life or the lives of others? In what ways will there be improvement? Why are taxpayers helping to fund this cash cow anyway?

[Overruled1]

It takes us farther to understanding the universe...It can will help us save the planet from our mismanagement as a species.
This is the greatest achievement in science that man has achieved since the invention of God and the wheel.

[stinger1z]

Conservatives were already in another dimension within their minds, now to just physically move them. I thought it got pretty close to the speed of light, but it takes huge amounts of energy as you approach it, but you can't exceed it.

[retiredgustav]

Maybe some how these experiments will take all of the conservatives and war mongers and put them in another dimension.

[stn_sage]

Until it provides ANY useful knowledge,
and hopefully doesn't cause any "accidents",
I say, 'big WHUP'!

[porcine_aviator]

Well, that's the typical attitude of the uneducated and feeble minded.

Way to show your ignorance.

[AnnieDanny]

Not nice. Be polite. If you know about this, could you explain WHY this is worth spending so much money on it? I haven't heard anything that convinces me, either.

Seems to me as if science has kinda run amuck with this contraption. When they finally collide their electrons, they might end up with the teensiest pile of carbon dust EVER. Or they might turn Geneva into a black hole, which, frankly, I think is ironically amusing considering the world banks are sitting on top of that collider. Whatever were they thinking when they chose the location for this monstrous machine?

And when they explain that this is so they can figure out how the Big Bang started, I have to admit that I feel VERY annoyed. Look at the size of the universe. Go check out the video on 3D deep space Hubble imaging...
http://www.flixxy.com/sumsing-turbo-3000-cellphone.htm

And then tell me now anybody is EVER gonna explain the Big Bang, and that's assuming there was such a thing. Even the Big Bang and a trillion light years does not explain how this massive universe came into being. Sometimes I think Science is trying to baffle us with you know what. So they can get more money for their toys??

I really don't get it, why this collider exists. It would be a lot better to provide medicine for malaria, IMO, than to play with this collider thing. Just my opinion.

[rf35]

I wonder if we might accidentally create a new universe. Maybe the intelligent design crowd is partially right; perhaps our own universe was created when someone in another universe ran an experiment like this. Thing is, we'd probably never know. Or maybe in the creation of a new universe, ours would be destroyed. Is this why we never see a creator/god? In creating us, it was killed? Nah, we'll probably just discover some cool new subatomic particles. Cheers!

[farmertommy]

WATCH FOR ALL THE CONSERVAPUBS TO RUN TO THEIR HOLES AND PRAY FOR

THE RAPTURE, SADLY AN AMERICAN CHRISTIAN IS SURE TO BE LEFT BEHIND,


THEY ONLY LOVE WAR, TORTURE, GREED AND PORN.

[Dgunner]

Farmertommy, in your ignorance of the bible you mentioned a rapture. Showme anywhere in the bible where the word rapture appears and I will award you one thousand dollars.If you read the bible for the money? Then you are reading for the benefit of monetary gain not the knowledge and the message.If you believe in rapture then the antichrist has a place for you in his hell and has accomplished his goal.

[jmca2009]

I take offense to your comments.
I strongly disagree with your claim about loving Porn.

The fact that I'm nearly blind in one eye doesn't mean anything.

[sean71z]

Particle physics leads to a better fuel. Hydrogen is a viable source for combustion. The processed water could be used to fly space ships or motorcycles. The super-collider shows patterns of released energy. Scientific study of the atoms should design advanced engines for vehicles burning hydrogen.

[farmertommy]

progress is a great thing

[patocc123]

Its a great thing till you see your post above. It seems your so progressive that you still snicker and snarl at others for being different than you.