Click here to read the actual press release from Cern.
There has been a leak at the large particle accelerator called LHC ( large Hadron Collider ) at Cern. Unfortunately this means that the whole series of experiments which set out to discover the secrets of the Universe has had to be postponed to SPRING 2009. Visit the Cern Press Office to find out more.
Picture courtesy of CERN
So many of you have mentioned the experiment at Cern to me that I thought it was worth another mention!
The scientists at Cern have been completing a very long circular tunnel ( LHC Large Hadron Collider) deep underground for the last few years. Finally, they completed it this year and then began to cool it using liquid nitrogen gas. They have managed to cool it to the lowest temperatures known anywhere on Earth.
This Wednesday, 10th September, they started the actual experiment: accelarating particles in the tunnel at very fast speeds. They are hoping that the particles will collide and smash each other up, releasing even smaller particles which they hope to detect.
There are some people very worried about the possibility of a Black Hole being formed under these extreme conditions which would absorb everything around it. This is what some of you are also worried about.
Well, these collisions are happening around us all the time, only we can’t detect the particles being released as they disperse or change far too quickly, before we can get our detectors out and run after them. So, basically, at Cern, the super brains have created these collisions in a closed space so that the particles can’t escape and are easier to detect.
Whether the released particles are detected or not is pure chance. They are hoping that by varying the conditions and trying different experiments we will be able to solve some of the mysteries regarding the creation of this Universe. Who knows, we might actually find more mysteries the deeper we go !
Do you want to know the weather on Mars right now?
Do you want to see what the surface of Mars is actually like?
Hi All,
If I have been quiet it is because I was visiting a place I learnt about when I was at school many moons ago. I went to CERN in Geneva where they are trying to solve the mysteries of the Universe. Some questions they are investigating include:
What exactly happened at the time of the BIG BANG?
Can we recreate the beginning of the UNIVERSE on a small scale?
Can we create a BLACK HOLE?
Can we find the GOD particle?
They have built a circular tunnel which runs about 100m underground . The radius of the circle is about 4.3 km; If the Falcons Girls was the centre then the edge of the circle would be at Hammersmith! Inside the tunnel are very powerful MAGNETS which surround a blue tube. In the blue tube the scientists will run two beams of very tiny particles, PROTONS. Each beam will travel in opposite directions, eventually travelling almost at the speed of light . The magnets ACCELERATE the particles and are also used to bend the beams slightly when required. The protons COLLIDE every so often releasing enormous amounts of energy. The whole tube has to be constantly cooled to about -270 degrees Celcius or it would get too hot and there would be a meltdown. Along various points of the tunnel there are DETECTORS which detect the collisions. All the information is sent off to COMPUTER FARMS: rows and rows of computers which analyse and store data from these experiments.
The scientists are trying to test their THEORIES abut the creation of our world. They are looking for EVIDENCE of particles which they have PREDICTED. It will take quite a few years to carry out all the experiments they need to do and to analyse the results. Their own computers can only cope with about 20% of the data so now they have created THE GRID. It is a network of computers set up at scientific research facilities all across the world. In London, Imperial College is very active in this research.
I am sure that you all know about WWW, the World Wide Web. This was created at CERN. Now you must look out for WWG the World Wide Grid, also created at CERN.
Has all this captured your imagination? If you want to find out more click here to go to the official CERN site.
All the best,
Farida Mannan
Look out for the total lunar eclipse which is due to occur on Thursday February 21st 2008. Leave me a comment if you do manage to see it.
This picture explains how the Sun, Earth and Moon are in one line:
The Earth blocks the Sun’s light from reaching the moon. The moon is in the Earth’s shadow.
The Moon will appear dark red when it is in the darkest part of the shadow, or the UMBRA. When the Moon is in the PENUMBRA, where there is more sunlight, the Moon will appear a paler shade of red.
Space shuttle Atlantis has delivered a US$2 billion European research lab to the international space station.
Atlantis docked with the space station Saturday after conducting a big back flip. The maneuver allowed NASA to inspect the shuttle’s thermal shield before latching on. It’s a move that has become standard procedure after the Columbia disaster in 2003.
The back flip allows the space station crew to take pictures of the shuttle in a variety of angles, including of its belly. The photos are then beamed back to earth where they will be analyzed by engineers looking for any signs of damage.
The meticulous inspections were put in place after Columbia disintegrated upon reentry in February 2003. It’s believed that pieces of external tank foam broke off during liftoff and damaged Columbia’s heat-resistant tiles. All seven astronauts on board died.
Insulating foam also fell off during Atlantis’ liftoff Thursday, but the pieces were too small to do any damage, NASA officials said.
Of particular concern at the time Atlantis docked was the shuttle’s thermal insulating blanket, which is sticking up. A similar thermal blanket peeled back during liftoff during Atlantis’ last mission, which was extended so the blanket could be repaired.
NASA officials said Saturday that their initial inspection of the shuttle showed no major damage.
Shuttle commander Stephen Frick radioed astronauts on board the space station, telling them about the view he and his crew had leading up to the docking.
“We got some views of your station as we were still a long way out, and it looks like an amazing star on the horizon,” Frick said. “It just keeps getting better as we get closer.”
The European Space Agency had wanted to send the Columbus lab to the space station back in 1992, the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the western hemisphere. But the agency faced a number of hurdles that led to delays, including shuttle groundings and station redesigns.
In addition to helping the shuttle dock on Saturday, Peggy Whitson, the station’s first female commander, also celebrated her 48th birthday.
Along with the lab, the European Space Agency also delivered a message to Whitson.
“We are looking forward to helping you over the next couple of days unpacking and enjoying your birthday present,” radioed the agency’s mission control from Germany.
The shuttle was the first to dock at the new Harmony module, delivered last fall by the Discovery shuttle.
The Columbus module will be removed from Atlantis’ payload bay on Sunday.
Year 5 are studying our Solar system at the moment. Try this superb activity to test your knowledge of our Solar system.
CLICK HEREor on the picture to go to the activity.
If you want to find out more click on this piture
Click here to find out about all the current NASA missions.
This is the planet Mercury as we have never seen before. NASA’s Messanger probe took this picture of the planet Mercury when it reached very close to it on 14th January 2008. These latest pictures are giving scientists more clues about how our solar system was originally formed.
Below are pictures of Earth taken by the same probe.
Click here to find out more
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