Large Hadron Collider

[SS-18 ICBM]

With a scheduled test just around the corner, we are reminded again of the existence of the culmination of the efforts of thousand of scientists and engineers into one of the largest scientific experiments in history. It will, of course, grant us insight into the nature and origin of the universe, but what are the possible practical applications of the discoveries to be made from the particle collisions? One possibility is that some observed particle behavior could be used in medicine (to treat and/or to diagnose disease) or in next-generation electronics. Are there any other applications of this data in everyday life?

 

[Metal Alloy Man]

Assuming it doesn't kill us all?

 

[Gilder]

Film the results for stock footage of explosions? Fulfill natural human curiosity? Just to say "we did it?"

 

[Dubai Vol]

Time after time, the most valuable investment has proven to be pure research. And time after time, the general public fails to appreciate this fact. "What will it do for ME, NOW?"

If you're lUCKY, it will destroy the earth when they turn it on today, but the chance of that is essentially zero. Shame.

See sig.

 

[SG-17]

I hope it blows up, but something small. Maybe just Switzerland, that way we will learn these lessons before we get the really powerful stuff. (IE Fusion, Antimatter, nanites, etc, etc.)
If it does blow it wont be tomorrow, it will be when they first collide two beams on October 21st.

 

[viz]

I guess the real world applications will be wide raging but it may be too early to predict what areas will benefit most. Electronics is almost a dead cert, but as with most physics discoveries we will likely see this knowledge being applied right across the board. First and foremost this is about understandig the universe, a nice side effect of that is a better understanding of everything else from the ground up.

Large Hadron Rap:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM



edit: For those interested, the odds of a global catastrophe are estimated at 1 in 50 million...

 

[uppi]

Without knowing the rsults it is hard to say, if there will be any real world applications. They really depend on surprising results. If there are no surprises there won't be any applications. Worst case: The LHC confirms the standard model, finds the Higgs-Boson with an acceptable mass and that's it. In that case there won't be any applications.

 

[kulade]

All this business is really giving me a hadron.

 

[LucyDuke]

One possibility is that some observed particle behavior could be used in medicine (to treat and/or to diagnose disease) or in next-generation electronics.

I don't really see how a subatomic particle could be useful in medicine. Medical science doesn't really get subatomic now, I don't see how a new particle would change that, really.

Of course I don't know all that much about medicine or subatomic physics so I could be very wrong.

Are there any other applications of this data in everyday life?

I imagine we'll find out when we have that data!

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Maybe it will create a time travel portal!

 

[viz]

I don't really see how a subatomic particle could be useful in medicine. Medical science doesn't really get subatomic now, I don't see how a new particle would change that, really.

Of course I don't know all that much about medicine or subatomic physics so I could be very wrong.

I imagine we'll find out when we have that data!

Past physics discoveries have had a huge impact in both diagnostics and treatment. Xray machines, lasers, CT and MRI scanners to name a few all rely on our understanding of physics and sub atomic particles in particular. Not to mention the world changing effect of the electron and the use of solid state transistors and massive processing increases. We can hope to find leaps of a similar magnitude over the coming decades as a direct result of the data from the LHC.

Also, how can we forget the world wide web itself? Created - again - as a direct result of particle physics and the massive interconnected data processing and distribution network that was thus needed.

 

[mr_lewington]

How much did this cost? The LHC i mean.

 

[vbraun]

I don't really see how a subatomic particle could be useful in medicine. Medical science doesn't really get subatomic now, I don't see how a new particle would change that, really.

One of the great things about science is that you can never possibly conceive all the possible applications a line of research has. For example, antimatter actually does have applications in the medical field in the form of a Positron emission tomography.

As for the actual data: the ATLAS experiment part of the LHC is expected to give 3,200 gigabytes of data a year. It was the University of Arizona's (Bear Down!) responsibility to design the software to interpret that data. The ATLAS is one of six experiments on the LHC.

 

[uppi]

As for the actual data: the ATLAS experiment part of the LHC is expected to give 3,200 gigabytes of data a year. It was the University of Arizona's (Bear Down!) responsibility to design the software to interpret that data. The ATLAS is one of six experiments on the LHC.

You're off by a few zeros. If I remeber correctly, the data that has to be stored is about 10 PB (10000000 Gigabytes) per year. And that's after filtering the data. Most data is actually immediately thrown away by software and only a fraction of it is stored.

 

[mdwh]

How much did this cost? The LHC i mean.

Wikipedia says 3.2–6.4 billion euros (4.4-8.9 billion USD). That's spread over about the last 13 years.

Now, how much is that in days-of-war-in-Iraq?

(For another comparison, that's less than the estimated cost of the 2012 London Olympics. Also, the UK's yearly contribution is £34 million - less than the cost of the Royal Family, and we pay CERN £70 million a year anyway.)

See http://www.lhc.ac.uk/about-the-lhc/faqs.html for some more info.

 

[Serutan]

You're off by a few zeros. If I remeber correctly, the data that has to be stored is about 10 PB (10000000 Gigabytes) per year. And that's after filtering the data. Most data is actually immediately thrown away by software and only a fraction of it is stored.

He was talking about only 1 of the detectors on the LHC. The combined
total of all the detectors is probably what you're thinking of.

 

[Cutlass]

http://www.lhc-live.com/

 

[uppi]

He was talking about only 1 of the detectors on the LHC. The combined
total of all the detectors is probably what you're thinking of.

No, I was just talking about ATLAS. The data from CMS is probably on the same order of magnitude and the others probably produce less data.

I think COMPASS already produces 1 PB of data per year, and that one is small compared to ATLAS and CMS.

 

[vbraun]

No, I was just talking about ATLAS. The data from CMS is probably on the same order of magnitude and the others probably produce less data.

I think COMPASS already produces 1 PB of data per year, and that one is small compared to ATLAS and CMS.

Well, the people that designed the software for it (the University of Arizona) said in a public lecture, which I attended, two nights ago that it will generate about 3,200 Gb per year. I hope they're right.

 

[Riffraff]

Well, the people that designed the software for it (the University of Arizona) said in a public lecture, which I attended, two nights ago that it will generate about 3,200 Gb per year. I hope they're right.

Presumably they were talking about the detector within the big detector for which they are responsible.