re: The Large Hadron Collider a bust so far?

quote:

---

Sooooo....really, you've got nothing.

---

quote:

---

beejon

---

quote:

---

Like the space exploration program, one of the greatest immediate benefits has been the development of new technology to solve problems which simply haven't been solved before. The following are examples of how research in high energy physics (including the LHC) has benefited technology development:
Cancer therapy: The accelerator physics developed to do high energy physics has greatly increased the ability to focus a beam of energetic particles into a very small area, as well as the ability to cause the particles to interact only at the location of the cancer instead of entirely along the path of the particle beam. Fermilab, another high energy physics facility, runs a neutron cancer therapy center that has treated 3,000 patients since 1976. Most focused radiation cancer therapy has its roots in accelerator physics.
Manufacturing processes: Accelerator physics has also led to cleaner manufacturing. For example, the process by which rubber is vulcanized to produce tires was historically done entirely via the application of some truly nasty chemicals. Now, beams from low energy accelerators are used to vulcanize the rubber, significantly decreasing the chemicals required.
Medical and industrial imaging: The same cameras used to image particle collisions have been adapted to image the body and the interiors of manufactured products. X-rays, MRIs, and CAT scans all have roots in the detectors used for particle imaging.
Pattern recognition: Some of the first pattern recognition algorithms were developed to recognize particle tracks in images of interactions. Pattern recognition has taken on a research life of its own, but some of the most basic algorithms came from particle physics (for example, the Hough transform).
Grid/cloud computing: Researchers at the Tevatron (the predecessor to the LHC) and the LHC have contributed significantly to grid computing. Experiments at the LHC produce tens of petabytes of data/year, which must be processed, stored, and distributed to physicists around the world via a computing grid.
The world wide web: Before the web page was invented, the Internet was primarily composed of email, usenets, and ftp servers. The web page was first developed at CERN to share information between internationally located experimentalists in high energy physics.

Workforce development:

The challenges faced by doing research at the LHC requires the development of skills to handle new problems by inventing technical solutions. This creative mindset, as well as the technical expertise cultivated by core science research can be a valuable skillset to industry. Additionally, many of the technologies in the previous section would not be widely available today if people from accelerator and particle physics hadn't left for industry jobs and said "Hey, we had a problem a lot like that..."

The core science:

While technology and workforce development are both great short term benefits, they are typically achieved via the pursuit of any problem which has not been solved. So, why fund the LHC in particular? Scientific funding is primarily based on perceived scientific benefit. The LHC increases our understanding of nuclear physics and quantum field theory (an extension of quantum mechanics) by probing high energies at an intensity never before possible. Experiments at the LHC are currently:
Searching for the Higgs boson, the particle predicted by the Standard Model to cause particles to acquire mass.
Searching for particle behavior inconsistent with the Standard Model.
Searching for the source of dark matter.
Searching for the cause of matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe.
Measuring the size and structure of the proton.
Understanding the manner in which cosmic rays interact with our atmosphere (using a laboratory controlled source of particles).
Confirming the existence of a quark-gluon plasma and measuring its properties (the quark-gluon plasma has already been observed by experiments at the LHC).
I would love to tell you that research at the LHC will lead to anti-gravity drives or the ability to fold space, but that is simply too speculative, even for a site which encourages speculation. The practical benefits from the core science are as yet unknown and we must point to historical examples instead. We know that understanding fundamental theories like quantum field theory have generated tremendous practical benefits in the past. For example:
Quantum mechanics was developed about a century ago. At the time, it was full of interesting scientific puzzles which had no known practical application. About fifty years ago, the transistor was constructed, which was only possible via an understanding of quantum mechanics. The transistor is the core component of all computer chips. Without the transistor, computers would still be made of vacuum tubes and occupy warehouses and office buildings - smart phones, laptops, and small personal computers simply wouldn't exist.
Studies of the atom eventually led to the discovery of nuclear power and the nuclear bomb. The potential for clean and safe power generation from nuclear fusion still exists, though the development process has thus far been long and frustrating.
Studies of fundamental electromagnetism predate quantum mechanics, but the general approach of studying the fundamental forces remains the same in particle physics today. Core E&M concepts developed ~150 years ago are used daily by all electrical engineers, allowing us to create radios, more efficient batteries, mathematically model the effects of interference in circuits, and much more.

---

quote:

---

quote:
Like the space exploration program, one of the greatest immediate benefits has been the development of new technology to solve problems which simply haven't been solved before. The following are examples of how research in high energy physics (including the LHC) has benefited technology development:
Cancer therapy: The accelerator physics developed to do high energy physics has greatly increased the ability to focus a beam of energetic particles into a very small area, as well as the ability to cause the particles to interact only at the location of the cancer instead of entirely along the path of the particle beam. Fermilab, another high energy physics facility, runs a neutron cancer therapy center that has treated 3,000 patients since 1976. Most focused radiation cancer therapy has its roots in accelerator physics.
Manufacturing processes: Accelerator physics has also led to cleaner manufacturing. For example, the process by which rubber is vulcanized to produce tires was historically done entirely via the application of some truly nasty chemicals. Now, beams from low energy accelerators are used to vulcanize the rubber, significantly decreasing the chemicals required.
Medical and industrial imaging: The same cameras used to image particle collisions have been adapted to image the body and the interiors of manufactured products. X-rays, MRIs, and CAT scans all have roots in the detectors used for particle imaging.
Pattern recognition: Some of the first pattern recognition algorithms were developed to recognize particle tracks in images of interactions. Pattern recognition has taken on a research life of its own, but some of the most basic algorithms came from particle physics (for example, the Hough transform).
Grid/cloud computing: Researchers at the Tevatron (the predecessor to the LHC) and the LHC have contributed significantly to grid computing. Experiments at the LHC produce tens of petabytes of data/year, which must be processed, stored, and distributed to physicists around the world via a computing grid.
The world wide web: Before the web page was invented, the Internet was primarily composed of email, usenets, and ftp servers. The web page was first developed at CERN to share information between internationally located experimentalists in high energy physics.

Workforce development:

The challenges faced by doing research at the LHC requires the development of skills to handle new problems by inventing technical solutions. This creative mindset, as well as the technical expertise cultivated by core science research can be a valuable skillset to industry. Additionally, many of the technologies in the previous section would not be widely available today if people from accelerator and particle physics hadn't left for industry jobs and said "Hey, we had a problem a lot like that..."

The core science:

While technology and workforce development are both great short term benefits, they are typically achieved via the pursuit of any problem which has not been solved. So, why fund the LHC in particular? Scientific funding is primarily based on perceived scientific benefit. The LHC increases our understanding of nuclear physics and quantum field theory (an extension of quantum mechanics) by probing high energies at an intensity never before possible. Experiments at the LHC are currently:
Searching for the Higgs boson, the particle predicted by the Standard Model to cause particles to acquire mass.
Searching for particle behavior inconsistent with the Standard Model.
Searching for the source of dark matter.
Searching for the cause of matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe.
Measuring the size and structure of the proton.
Understanding the manner in which cosmic rays interact with our atmosphere (using a laboratory controlled source of particles).
Confirming the existence of a quark-gluon plasma and measuring its properties (the quark-gluon plasma has already been observed by experiments at the LHC).
I would love to tell you that research at the LHC will lead to anti-gravity drives or the ability to fold space, but that is simply too speculative, even for a site which encourages speculation. The practical benefits from the core science are as yet unknown and we must point to historical examples instead. We know that understanding fundamental theories like quantum field theory have generated tremendous practical benefits in the past. For example:
Quantum mechanics was developed about a century ago. At the time, it was full of interesting scientific puzzles which had no known practical application. About fifty years ago, the transistor was constructed, which was only possible via an understanding of quantum mechanics. The transistor is the core component of all computer chips. Without the transistor, computers would still be made of vacuum tubes and occupy warehouses and office buildings - smart phones, laptops, and small personal computers simply wouldn't exist.
Studies of the atom eventually led to the discovery of nuclear power and the nuclear bomb. The potential for clean and safe power generation from nuclear fusion still exists, though the development process has thus far been long and frustrating.
Studies of fundamental electromagnetism predate quantum mechanics, but the general approach of studying the fundamental forces remains the same in particle physics today. Core E&M concepts developed ~150 years ago are used daily by all electrical engineers, allowing us to create radios, more efficient batteries, mathematically model the effects of interference in circuits, and much more.

---

quote:

---

and disproved the female orgasm.

---

quote:

---

Just because I'm not a fricking idiot doesn't mean I'm a liberal.

---