particles go zoooom

[juliet]

Hooray, the got the first beam all the way round the LHC today. I came into work early specially to watch the webcast (because I am a big geek that way) but unfortunately the CERN server couldn't cope with the load.

Deeply underimpressed with the reporting of it in general. No, the world will not end today because even if the world *were* to be at risk of ending, it would be when they collide the beams, which they're not doing today. The BBC 6Music news even explicitly said that they would be colliding things today. Bah ignorant journalists.

Look instead for world-ending microscopic black holes in another few months. Hurrah. (I like the sort of risk assessment that seriously considers whether they might accidentally destroy the world.)

Comments

[pippaalice.livejournal.com]

Deeply underimpressed with the reporting of it in general. No, the world will not end today because even if the world *were* to be at risk of ending, it would be when they collide the beams, which they're not doing today.

This has been what has been bugging me, it's just keeping people science stupid rather than actually telling them the truth.

[juliet]

I get the impression that it's not journalists deliberately dumbing-down the truth so much as them not understanding / not bothering to understand what's going on in the first place. Which kind of baffles me because even if Yr Average Journo doesn't know anything at all about it (& *really* it's not that difficult to understand), spending 30 seconds with their science correspondent would solve the problem.

Grumble grumble grumble.

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

Oh it's THAT that's given me a headache today it is? Stupid particles ;)

(but yes, I was a bit miffed that after all the world-ending kerfuffle that they're not *actually* colliding the beams today! Stupid the media).

[juliet]

But it is still pretty exciting! Particles go zoooom!

Obv yr headache is due to a MICROSCOPIC BLACK HOLE spontaneously appearing in yr HEAD. And then decaying by Hawking radiation (so if you could observe it, then you would get a Nobel or something since so far Hawking radiation is AIUI unobserved in either the wild or the not-wild cases).

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

I couldn't observe it, that would change the result!

(this is the ONLY SCIENCE JOKE I KNOW so go easy on me ;))

[mrs-leroy-brown.livejournal.com]

that's one of my fave Futurama quotes: 'no fair! you changed the outcome by measuring it!' :D

[steer.livejournal.com]

Hawking radiation is AIUI unobserved in either the wild or the not-wild cases

I thought that this was the case for black holes in general (though I understand that Hawking did actually pay up his bet so I guess he believes the observational evidence is good enough and he's pretty qualified).

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

I have a headache too! I support your hypothesis!

[dogrando.livejournal.com]

                SPENGLER
 Wait!  Wait!  There's something I forgot to
 tell you.

                VENKMAN
 What?

                SPENGLER
 Don't cross the beams.

                VENKMAN
 Why not?

                SPENGLER
 Trust me.  It will be bad.

                VENKMAN
 What do you mean "bad?"

                SPENGLER
 It's hard to explain, but try to imagine
 all life as you know it stopping
 instantaneously and finding yourself
 confined forever in another dimension.

                VENKMAN
 That's it!  I'm taking charge.  You guys
 are dangerous.

[juliet]

Hurrah!

[jhg.livejournal.com]

Radio 4's broadcasting on it and related matters all day, and there's loads of stuff on their website.

[bluedevi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's been winding me up too. An outdoor newspaper placard thing in Oxford actually says "Boffins say 'world not at risk'" ! People still say 'boffins'? WTF?

timscience heard some scientist saying "It definitely won't destroy the world!" and has adopted that as a catchphrase for anything he feels vague but unfounded disquiet about. It's the new "There is no cause for alarm".

ION: waveformsqueeeeeeee! Metcheck and BBC say sunshine...

[juliet]

Waveform! Hurrah!

We should be there sometime early afternoon tomorrow (I have to stop off at Mongolia at 10am for the last of the Great Visa Tour of London, & then I hope to persuade uon to stop for a fryup in Paddington).

Hmm, Metcheck currently saying some rain Sat/Sun. Oh well. We have a tipi :) (you should camp near the tipis! When will you be getting there?)