A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience
Scientists discovered a technique that should produce electrons and positrons by colliding two sets of super-energetic photons.
For a long time, scientists have theorized that you can create matter from light by colliding photons. Proving that theory has been a different story — you need the right high-energy particles to even think of trying. However, it looks like that once-impossible dream is close to becoming reality.
Continue reading… “Scientists discover a way to create matter from light”
The Living Earth Simulator aims to predict how diseases spread.
It could be one of the most ambitious computer projects ever conceived. An international group of scientists are aiming to create a simulator that can replicate everything happening on Earth – from global weather patterns and the spread of diseases to international financial transactions or congestion on Milton Keynes’ roads.
Continue reading… “Living Earth Simulator – Predicting the Future of Everything”
1. Large Hadron Collider
Good news! The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) – the massive particle accelerator straddling the Swiss-French border – didn’t destroy the world! The bad news: The contraption didn’t really work either. In September, the 17-mile collider was switched on for the first time, putting to rest the febrile webchatter that the machine would create an artificial black hole capable of swallowing the planet or at least a sizeable piece of Europe – a bad day no matter what. No lucid observer ever thought that would really happen, but what they did expect was that the LHC would operate as advertised, recreating conditions not seen since instants after the Big Bang and giving physicists a peek into those long-vanished moments. Things looked good at first, until a helium leak caused the collider to shut down after less than two weeks. Repairs are underway and the particles should begin spinning again sometime in June.
Technology is taking such rapid strides forward at such a blurring pace that what is considered a marvelous novelty turns into a mundane common object within no time. To classify and bunch a set of man-made marvels from a world that is being constantly altered is a pretty tough job. Finding them is easy enough in a world filled with man-made wonders but the relevance of such a compilation will be short-lived compared with a list from the ancient world. Yet we embark on a journey across the planet and beyond to try and find out the best the world has to offer—our own creations that leave us in awe. We limit ourselves to finding the biggest, tallest or the highest as otherwise we would probably never end the journey we began. It is a journey filled with variations and grand delights in a spectacular way. So, have a fun ride…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM[/youtube]
In the tradition of Richard Feynman’s ode to orange juice, but spiced with actual information.
Continue reading… “CERN’s Large Hadron Collider Explained with Rap Music”