Higgs Boson Discovered

[Sundae]

Soz, was only joking because when I read that Higgs was Englert's lover I believed it for a second.

I miss the Zen.
He was damned smart, but in an Aussie way. So laid back you'd think his (albeit excellent) photos and travelogues meant he 'd dropped out.
I think the same about our other Aussies. I've had the privilege of sharing some convos with them that reveal more than I think they say on the board, or certainly not easily found. They're not as chilled as they come across, and certainly more acccomplished.

Except Ali of course. Who just has babies.
(C'mon, I had to say it about someone and I know the most about how damned smart you are.)

[xoxoxoBruce]

If it's not one thing, it's your mother.

[Undertoad]

I was thinking that maybe he wanted to leave and invented his mom as a way to get that done.

[lumberjim]

Weird.

[Pico and ME]

I don't know. I believed in the conflict with which he was dealing. Zen may have grown up struggling against a mother who always had to be the smartest one in the room. And, perhaps, she competed intellectually with Zen. He didn't want to have to deal with that here. Perhaps it just something he has never been able to grow out of. Makes it unpleasant either way.

[Lamplighter]

PBS: Nova 1/13/15 THE BIG BANG MACHINE

Many years ago when I was much younger than I am now,
I saw on tv what I believed was the best science program ever made.
It was an early (1975 ?) NOVA program about the young scientist,
his equipment, and his recordings of when he first discovered
the pulsating signal of a black hole.

Tonight, I watched the second best NOVA program about the discovery of the Higgs boson.
For me, this 1-hour tv program was a true celebration of science.
I know that word "celebration" is used a lot, and that is why
I hope everyone will take the time to watch this one.
It is what a career in science is all about.

This NOVA program is available on the pbs.org/wgbh/nova website and this is the link:

[xoxoxoBruce]

NOVA never disappoints. Many of the subjects don't affect our daily struggle in a way we're aware of, and they don't sell many newspapers, so they only get press in scientific or trade journals. Very few would read all the publications required to get the whole picture. Every subject is presented in a clear, interesting manner.
I swear if the voice of Peter Thomas(NOVA's narrator), told me I was a chicken, I'd try to lay an egg.

As for the Higgs boson show, I think your celebration of science description is appropriate. It's a story of science triumphs over skeptics, politics, and numerous scientific challenges, to catch a glimpse of what had been theoretical for 50 years. Perfect story line with good guys, bad guys, and triumph.

However, there is a considerable phalanx of people saying so what? Do I still have to go to work tomorrow? Will Higgs boson fix my car, heal my body, feed the world? Wouldn't that $13.25 Billion and effort of hundreds, be better spent improving the lives of third world people? Does science trump humanity?

I don't have an answer.

[tw]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

NOVA never disappoints.

We all work to only service the few who advance mankind. According to popular myth, quantum mechanics has done nothing useful for any of us. Total nonsense. That gigibyte disk drive is due to a breakthrough in quantum physics. Same applies other useless technologies includnig Shannon's Communication Theory, laser, computer chess games or beating Jepordy champions, glass fibers, LED, satellite, uProcessor, PCM, liquid crystals, lithium battery, etc. In each case it obviously had no purpose; was only a cute toy.

We knew the future of everyone not yet born then was the transistor. Today, that same future is in Quantum physics. Almost nothing discovered in fundamental research has a purpose - until that fundamental research moves to application research. Those above examples are perfect examples of money wasted (according to spread sheet analysis). So much later each became essential to everyone's daily life.

We could not possibly know what a Higg Bosum will make possible. That is the nature of fundamental research - that defines the future of everyone's lives.

The show ends in a world wide conference where the tens of thousands, essential to our future, are the same people we all work to support. So that mankind can advance.

Alongside Nova was another 'must see' show. Frontline discussed what everyone here should know about Putin.

[Lamplighter]

They found the Higgs boson particle. Now, for a set of new questions…

Is the Higgs responsible for dark energy ?
Are there supersymmetic particles that decay in a Higgs ?
Will they find another hypothesized particle called the “neutralino” ?
Is it the neutralino that makes up “dark matter” ?

Earth’s Most Powerful Physics Machine Gets Back in Action
Science - Marcus Woo - 03.24.15

In the fall of 2008, CERN’s high-energy physicists ran into a problem.
A faulty electronic connection at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland
—the biggest, baddest, most powerful particle accelerator ever built
caused a couple of magnets to overheat and melt,
triggering an explosion of pressurized helium gas….

“It was pretty depressing when we broke the accelerator,”
says Aaron Dominguez, a physicist at the University of Nebraska.
“That was not a good day.”…

Eventually, engineers fixed the LHC, and in 2012,
physicists used it to do what the accelerator was always supposed to:
Find the elusive subatomic particle called the Higgs boson. …

But to prevent another accident, CERN’s engineers had run the LHC
at only half its designed capability. Now, after a two-year hiatus in which
engineers upgraded the accelerator to prevent such magnetic meltdowns,
the LHC is set to smash protons together harder than ever—the way it was intended. …

The plan was to turn on the beam this week, firing clusters of protons
—each containing more than a hundred billion particles— at almost the speed of light.

But on March 21, engineers found a short circuit, which could delay the restart as much as a few weeks.

<snip>

[tw]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Earth’s Most Powerful Physics Machine Gets Back in Action Marcus Woo - 03.24.15

The article does not mention what has changed. I believe modifications have upped it power by a factor of 3. And new tools have been added to the loop.

[Lamplighter]

Originally Posted by tw

The article does not mention what has changed...

About 27,000 copper wires were added in this "For want of a nail, a collider was lost..." syndrome.

Engineers fixed the damage, replacing magnets along nearly 2,000 feet of the accelerator ring. During the recent shutdown, they made a slew of upgrades, but the most important one was just to make sure nothing blows up again. It took a year and a half for 300 people to reinforce the 10,000 connections between magnets with 27,000 pieces of copper. Now, if electric current starts to build up, the beefed-up connections will give all that energy someplace to go. The engineers also replaced 18 magnets that had worn out, upgraded electronics to make them more resistant to radiation, and added a new coating to the inside of the vacuum tube carrying the protons that should prevent stray electrons from forming a cloud that would interfere with the beam.

[Lamplighter]

Dark matter: I know it's there ... because I can't see it.



Dark matter 'ghosts' through galactic smash-ups
BBC - 3/26/15

By observing multiple collisions between huge clusters of galaxies,
scientists have witnessed dark matter coasting straight through the turmoil.

Dark matter is the mysterious, invisible stuff that makes up 85% of the matter in the cosmos
- and these results rule out several theoretical models put forward to explain it.
This is because it barely interacts with anything at all, including the dark matter in the oncoming galaxies.
…
"In all of these collisions that we've seen, it just seems to go straight through.
And now we've seen loads more of them, we would have been able to detect any deceleration
of this dark matter, if it had interacted in the ways that most theories predict," Dr Massey said.

So although some theories remain, many can now be ruled out.
This includes the idea that dark matter is some sort of "dark" version of ordinary matter, made of "dark atoms".

It must be more outlandish than that, Dr Massey said.
"Basically, we're saying: Back to the drawing board!
Let's come up with some more ideas."

[tw]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

About 27,000 copper wires were added in this

Upgrades were not for averting failure. Things done to avert failure were only done because it was convenient and learned after the first run.

I believe the LHC was upgraded from 4 tera electron volts to 14 tera electron volts. IOW to eventually do what the Supercollider in TX was suppose to do over a decade ago - before Congressmen thought an International Space Station (that does almost no science) was a better investment.

LHC is upgraded to answer a larger question - supersymmetry.

When I was going up, transistor clearly was the future. Today, Quantum Physics is the future for every kid. Back then, America was doing transistor work to become worldwide dominant 20 years later. Today, Quantum Physics is being done where and by whom? Who then will have a growing standard of living?