The Six Billion Dollar Experiment

"Horizon goes for the big one tonight, so strap yourselves in. It's tackling how the universe started and where matter sprang from. The period we're looking at is "just after" the big bang, the kind of casual phrase physicists use when they actually mean less than one billionth of a second afterwards.

This coming November, the most complex machines ever made, buried under the plains of Geneva, will be used for the most ambitious scientific experiments ever undertaken: re-creating that first billionth of a second. It's very exciting and dramatic, or at least the first part of the film is - physics at its most heroic and earth-shattering.

These guys could accidentally create a black hole and suck in the whole planet by mistake!

And the programme is very watchable - there are dreamy visuals and trippy music. Sadly, there's also storytelling that could bend space and time with its anti-gravity meandering. Never mind: it's worth it."

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These guys could accidentally create a black hole and suck in the whole planet by mistake![/b]

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Woah, this sounds interesting! And slightly reckless?!

9 p.m. tonight on BBC 2 for the Brits.

I was just reading that the Hadron is having magnet troubles... so we might have to wait a while for our own private little black hole.

I love this stuff... might just have to overcome my revulsion with television tonight. Thanks for the tip!

I think I can get BBC2 here in the Netherlands, I might watch it, sounds cool.

Aw man, right up my alley (as of recent). Anyone ever watch "The Elegant Universe"? Priceless piece of filmaking if you're into the whole history of gravity, relativity all the way through superstrings. I just happened to get the copy from the library this weekend and will likely copy it to VHS (one of those things you could probably watch over and over and learn something new each time). The animation and FX alone are pleasing to see.

For those of you interested, it's available for watching online --- FREE!

The Elegant Universe

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9 p.m. tonight on BBC 2 for the Brits.[/b]

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That's like what, 4pm US? Aw man, this gonna be one of those times I regret not getting cable :(

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Originally Posted by Tornado

Aw man, right up my alley (as of recent). Anyone ever watch "The Elegant Universe"? Priceless piece of filmaking if you're into the whole history of gravity, relativity all the way through superstrings. I just happened to get the copy from the library this weekend and will likely copy it to VHS (one of those things you could probably watch over and over and learn something new each time). The animation and FX alone are pleasing to see.[/b]

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Great series - watched it online long after reading the book Greene(?) is brilliant at taking the esoteric and bizarre and "bringing it home" in an easy and comfortable way.

String Theory has come a LONG way since that book and series and remains very much in question, but it remains the best thing going for the time being as far as the grand unifying thing.

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Originally Posted by Tornado

That's like what, 4pm US? Aw man, this gonna be one of those times I regret not getting cable :([/b]

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I'll see what I can do about recording and digitising it...no promises though!

netflix has it

This is crap.
I never watched a science program and came out knowing less, however this is so stupid and wrong I felt the anger althrough the program. Well they think the standard model explains the universe and some how by finding the Higgs particle will make everything work, which is ironic because how do you find something that doesn't exsists. Thats right the Higgs particle doesn't exsist so most of the thing you learn in this program is BS.
Also the standard model in my view is crappy. Well after the 1950's everybody started predicting particles so they can have their name attached to it, most of the particle predicted was later found to be false, however a small percent were true. The Higgs is a example of this. Do you know they call the Higgs particle the god particle, now call me a atheist, but saying God did it in physics was replaced with Higgs did it. The only thing the six billion dollar experiment will prove is nothing.
Well the program itself was weird as the animation and quick changes of light and dark made it hypnotic. I hated how they used a moderately attractive person to say rubbish like Maybe their is not a ultimate theory, which is stupid as the alternative is no theory or part theory. Well in a few years their will be a Newscientist article saying NO HIGGS and I will say how you wasted your life watching this. I want my 50 minautes back.

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Originally Posted by wendylove

This is crap.
I never watched a science program and came out knowing less, however this is so stupid and wrong I felt the anger althrough the program. Well they think the standard model explains the universe and some how by finding the Higgs particle will make everything work, which is ironic because how do you find something that doesn't exsists. Thats right the Higgs particle doesn't exsist so most of the thing you learn in this program is BS.
Also the standard model in my view is crappy. Well after the 1950's everybody started predicting particles so they can have their name attached to it, most of the particle predicted was later found to be false, however a small percent were true. The Higgs is a example of this. Do you know they call the Higgs particle the god particle, now call me a atheist, but saying God did it in physics was replaced with Higgs did it. The only thing the six billion dollar experiment will prove is nothing.
Well the program itself was weird as the animation and quick changes of light and dark made it hypnotic. I hated how they used a moderately attractive person to say rubbish like Maybe their is not a ultimate theory, which is stupid as the alternative is no theory or part theory. Well in a few years their will be a Newscientist article saying NO HIGGS and I will say how you wasted your life watching this. I want my 50 minautes back.[/b]

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If you mathematically prove something it is 100% sure that it exists or can exist. If it does not exist it can be created.

somebody upload this show somewhere.

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Originally Posted by wendylove

This is crap.
I never watched a science program and came out knowing less, however this is so stupid and wrong I felt the anger althrough the program. Well they think the standard model explains the universe and some how by finding the Higgs particle will make everything work, which is ironic because how do you find something that doesn't exsists. Thats right the Higgs particle doesn't exsist so most of the thing you learn in this program is BS.
Also the standard model in my view is crappy. Well after the 1950's everybody started predicting particles so they can have their name attached to it, most of the particle predicted was later found to be false, however a small percent were true. The Higgs is a example of this. Do you know they call the Higgs particle the god particle, now call me a atheist, but saying God did it in physics was replaced with Higgs did it. The only thing the six billion dollar experiment will prove is nothing.
Well the program itself was weird as the animation and quick changes of light and dark made it hypnotic. I hated how they used a moderately attractive person to say rubbish like Maybe their is not a ultimate theory, which is stupid as the alternative is no theory or part theory. Well in a few years their will be a Newscientist article saying NO HIGGS and I will say how you wasted your life watching this. I want my 50 minautes back.[/b]

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lol. I don't really need my 50 minutes back. It wasn't a great documentary, but very interesting non-the-less. You can't argue with that whatever the particle accelerator will uncover will be interesting, and a step forward in this very interesting and complex field of science. A field full of 'BS' perhaps, but they said it themselves: Maybe the standard particles turn out to be a bunch of crap, at least then we know.

I think understanding matter at such a fundamental level may really give us some valuable technology in the future, and some beautiful insights into the reality of the universe previously invisible to us.

Maybe the 'Hicks field' is nonsense. Probably it is. But all it really means that particles react as if influenced by such a field. Maybe the real reason for why the particles react in a certain way is far more complicated and different. That doesn't really matter, it would just mean the Hicks-Hypothesis will evolve into another, better, hypothesis/law that is another step closer to reality.

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Anyhow. One way or another, I am curious about what this 6 billion dollar project will produce :)

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Anyhow. One way or another, I am curious about what this 6 billion dollar project will produce[/b]

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The end of the world. Well if Hawking is right then the radiation produce will be immense when the black holes decay, maybe this will solve the power issue. I guess your right, however I wonder where they got the 6 billion dollars.

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Originally Posted by wendylove

The end of the world. Well if Hawking is right then the radiation produce will be immense when the black holes decay, maybe this will solve the power issue. I guess your right, however I wonder where they got the 6 billion dollars.[/b]

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60 nations were involved in funding it, if my memory isn't faulty. (It often is.)

If you are interested, search on Hadron Collider - they have their own website, of course.

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Originally Posted by wendylove

The end of the world. Well if Hawking is right then the radiation produce will be immense when the black holes decay, maybe this will solve the power issue. I guess your right, however I wonder where they got the 6 billion dollars.[/b]

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Hmm, I don't think we will cause the end of the world =) Maybe if we collided two atoms into each other, but how much energy do 2 protons hold? A lot, comparing to their seize, a Great lot. But that still isn't much, they are small little fuckers :)

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And 6 billions isn't That much, comparing to what some countries spend on, lets say, wars and space shuttles. I guess the French and swiss government are curious, curious to how it feels to be the country that cause scientific breakthrough.

Anyhow, I hope they do invent the holy grail of energy or something, or at least provide us with some cool 6 billion costing fireworks.

Crap, I wish I had seen the program to understand what you're talking about - "Hicks field", "Higgs particle"? Are you referring to "ghost particles" (Neutrinos)?

This experiment sounds a lot like one which I saw in another program about Neutrinos and how to "detect" their existance. It was pretty out there, like saying that they go in and out from one dimension to another (or something like that).

Anyway, this $6 billion thing reminds me of that James Randi $1 billion challenge, only this one is the opposite (I think).

Sure, the documentary's presentation was crap, but the content was incredibly interesting.

And wendy, this experiment will definitely give results. Even if Hicks particles aren't created, then something else will be that will show physics where it's gone wrong, and possibly even give an alternate answer to the 'building blocks' question.

How big is this machine? I doubt even if a black hole is created it'll have a Schwarzschild radius significant enough to swallow the Earth, or be destructive if it evaporates.

How was it, i ment to watch it but forgot, was it any good?

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Originally Posted by Squall

a Schwarzschild radius[/b]

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Bless you!

It looked massive from what I saw. Like Bond baddie secret complex scale needing buggies to traverse it. Although to be honest I didn't pay much attention haha, but I've recorded it and will see if I can convert it onto the PC this weekend.