Umm.. Its working???

Guess they must have a Linux box or two after all!

Agreed that smart people should work for our future. That they will.

There were a few futurists who speculated about why SETI has failed till now. One notion was that other tech civs build LHCs, generate out-of-control black holes, and vanish in a burst of gamma rays.

I don't believe that. But I do believe any applications will be military. At least in the beginning. Perhaps later some apps will filter down to us masses. As X-rays, ultrasounds, MRIs, etc., have done. But, as always, tech = power. When left up to us humans, power is first used for evil. Out of which some good sometimes falls.

I guess I am one of the naysayers. 
Someone mentionned future applications. Just one example: one application of particle accelerators is the proton therapy to treat tumors. The first trials were in the 50's but the machines are still very very rare, in part because they are expensive (millions...). However their technology is very cheap when compared with the technology of the LHC. 
If we can't afford a small particle accelerator to help patients, I don't see how we will afford a 20+km ring. Unless it is for military applications of course. There always seems to be money for that.

Two beams clashing..experiments with unforseen consequences...

This happened before......Waay back, in Half-Life 1.

IMO they should start placing iron crowbars all over the place together with ammo packs for various regular/special weapons...or we're doomed-

Perhaps I'm too optimistic, but it really disturbs to read some of the negative comments about the CERN project. People complain about "misusage of resources" and theoretical dangers that the tests may create. Can't you see beyond your negativity and passivity? Can't you see the possibilities of tomorrow instead of the needs of today? These kind of experiments that the gentlemen in white are conducting in CERN can one day very well lead to practical applications. Interstellar travel, teleportation, "beam me up, Scotty", you name it. Humankind must look forward. If there were no progressive thinking, would we have all the comforts and possibilities we have today? Certainly not. So begone, nay-sayers, let the smart people work for our future. :-)

when sky news had a bit of time to show text messages sent in by the public at about ten to six this morning.
one woman had sent in "my children come home from school crying and can't go to sleep at night as they are afraid a black hole will eat them up"

i laughed, as basicly, no love, thats you, you're the one crying about it, your kids probably don't give a monkies. if it is your children, then i suggest you phone social services and ask for your children to be taken into care as you are obviously unfit to be a parent. talk about psychological trauma. whats it called when you're afraid of holes?


One of the items on the list with this new machine is try to create quantum singularities. Sure they're tiny but it kind of sounds like the first Nuclear test. We're not sure what we're getting ourselves into, imagine they were succesful in creating one however instead of rapidly collapsing it started growing, feasting on the surrounding energy and matter. 8(

...confident, isn't he...

Though I wouldn't want to bet against him in this case, that seems rather a weak statement, if it is meant as such.

For more info about the LHC, go watch the LHC rap earlier reported here on the Inq, very informative.

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/12/physics-geeks-rapping

I can not believe how much money has been spent on a project which interests probably less than 1% of the world's population, apart from those who are just "interested" because of the media frenzy. All those billions of Euros could have been spent much more wisely on helping to solve the hunger and poverty problems in Africa and Asia. I am disgusted.

It weren't random 'crazies' who warned of the danger initially, they were physicist.

In an interesting sidenote I think even einstein himself was worried when they first spoke of making a nuke that it might cascade and destroy the entire planet, it was on the frontpage of papers way back I hear.
But of course that didn't happen that time, perhaps that's why they keep trying. :)

Nice "reporting". Now do any of you actually understand the news release or are you just repeating it? (grins)

Imagine what this enormous amount of money could have done to find cheap alternatives for oil instead of finding a particle no one really cares about.

The more energy they put into it the more stuff will come out and this will never stop!