Comments on: GBTV #424 | GeekBrief.TV

By: Cali Lewis

Cali Lewis — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:02:14 +0000

You didn’t take me seriously, right Lee?

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:58:56 +0000

For those of you in the UK or can fudge the iPlayer to play this but you really MUST MUST MUST watch “The Big Bang Machine” here : http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00dccnr/

It’s fantastic and please lets stop talking about the end of the world it isn’t going to happen.

>rolls eyes<

By: master1228

master1228 — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:02:55 +0000

Wow Cali, I haven’t been on your site since the redesign. The site looks amazing!

Great job with the aesthetics and your content is engaging and amazing as always.

Dany
raad.wordpress.com

By: AlienSpaces

AlienSpaces — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:44:17 +0000

In that case, I will make a donation too, as a gesture of reconciliation.

By: Cali Lewis

Cali Lewis — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:07:19 +0000

Yes, we did make a donation.

By: AlienSpaces

AlienSpaces — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 03:47:29 +0000

So that’s a no then?

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 03:13:17 +0000

Cali,
The CERN press release at

http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2008/PR06.08E.html

gives Sept. 10 as the date for first circulating beam but doesn’t specify how long it will take before collisions take place. The NY Times article at

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/science/29cernrap.html

is a bit older (and has the expected first circulating beam date as Sept. 2 or 3), but correctly says that “engineers estimate that it will take one or two months of tweaking and ratcheting up the intensity of the beams before they begin colliding…”

These times are always fuzzy, so it could be anywhere from a few weeks to three months, depending on how the machine reacts to the beam. As for a broad expectation, the NY Times article is consistent with what I hear from colleagues.

I can try to dig up other sources if it will help. So sleep now and save your energy for when the army of miniature black holes battles the robot army. :P Hopefully, the date of first collision will be set over the coming weeks.

Keep up the great work!

By: Cali Lewis

Cali Lewis — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:17:30 +0000

Adam: do you have a link to information about Wednesday that specifies what will happen when? The information we pulled (and all the other gadget blogs) says that first they’ll send the beam one way, then the other way, then the collision. You’re right, though – it doesn’t specify that’s not all happening on the same day. I guess we all assumed from the way it’s written. Anyway, would love a link if you have one!

I don’t want to stay up until 2am my time if there isn’t going to be a collision! ;)

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:43:50 +0000

Oh, and please continue covering particle physics when you can fit it in. My field could use the exposure, plus it’s freaking cool stuff. The technology behind the machine and the detectors (as you touched on with CMS in this brief) is really incredible, and the analysis and software is also pretty neat. I’ve just finished my Ph.D. at a much older facility, and there’s lots of cool stuff around there… but LHC is many technological generations ahead, and must be overflowing with fascinating topics.

If you need a hand with high energy physics coverage, let me know!

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:36:13 +0000

Sorry to be a downer, but this Wednesday is supposed to be the first proton beam at LHC, with no collisions. In fact, it’ll be one proton beam alone, instead of two heading in opposite directions.

You should still watch, but don’t do anything you wouldn’t want to live with for at least a little while longer – no collisions, no black holes.

(But seriously, there’s nothing to worry about. Don’t let CNN fool you.)

By: AlienSpaces

AlienSpaces — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:34:51 +0000

Are you really going to make a donation?

By: Dave Peterson

Dave Peterson — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:15:15 +0000

Thanks for the heads up on the end of the world. I knew it was coming, just didn’t know when. Now I can properly enjoy it with a bowl of popcorn and a nice cool drink. And I hope everyone in Europe and Asia appreciates the end of the world happening in daylight hours for them, while the rest of us will have to lose sleep for it.

Nice show, and nice little explosion, too!