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 !
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
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