The Big Bang Experiment Begins

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Scientists send first beam around particle-smasher
* CERN had to allay fears experiment could create ‘black holes’

GENEVA: International scientists working at an underground complex started up a huge particle-smashing machine on Wednesday aiming to recreate the conditions of the Big Bang that created the universe.

Experts say it is the largest scientific experiment in human history and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the biggest and most complex machine ever made. The test by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) could unlock many secrets of modern physics and answer questions about the universe and its origins.

The $9 billion machine’s debut came as a blip on a screen in the control room, with a particle beam the size of a human hair appearing in the 27-km circular tunnel. “We’ve got a beam on the LHC,” project leader Lyn Evans told his colleagues, as a particle beam made a full clockwise trajectory of the accelerator, successfully completing the machine’s first major task.

CERN Director General Robert Aymar hailed it as a ‘historic day’ for CERN and mankind’s thirst for knowledge.

Later on Wednesday, scientists were to send another beam around the chamber counter-clockwise to ensure the path is clear. Particle beams would later be sent in both directions simultaneously to create high-energy collisions at close to the speed of light. Physicists around the world will be watching for whether those collisions recreate on a miniature scale the heat and energy of the Big Bang.

Black holes: The organisation has had to work hard to deny suggestions by some critics that the experiment could create tiny black holes of intense gravity that could suck in the whole planet.

The Holy Grail will be finding a theorised component called the Higgs Boson, which would explain how particles acquire mass. The Higgs Boson is named after Scottish scientist Peter Higgs who first proposed it in 1964, as the answer to the mystery of how matter gains mass.

Over the 10-15 years in which will the LHC will operate, masses of data will spew from these collisions and will be scrutinised by physicists around the world. agencies


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Girl commits suicide over ‘Big Bang’ fear

BHOPAL, Sept 10: A teenage girl in central India killed herself on Wednesday after being traumatised by media reports that a “Big Bang” experiment in Europe could bring about the end of the world, her father said.

The 16-year old girl from the state of Madhya Pradesh drank pesticide and was rushed to the hospital but later died, police said.

Her father, identified on local television as Biharilal, said his daughter, Chayya, killed herself after watching doomsday predictions made on Indian news programmes. “In the past two days, Chayya had asked me and other relatives about the world coming to an end on Sept 10,” Biharilal was quoted as saying.

“We tried to divert her attention and told her she should not worry about such things, but to no avail,” he said.

For the past two days, many Indian news channels held discussions airing doomsday predictions over a huge particle-smashing machine buried under the Swiss-French border.

The machine, called the Large Hadron Collider, was switched on on Wednesday, at the start of what experts say is the largest scientific experiment in human history.

The machine smashes particles together to achieve (on a small scale) re-enactments of the “Big Bang” that created the universe.

Leading scientists and researchers at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research said the experiment was safe. They dismissed as “pure fiction” doomsday predictions that the experiment could create anti-matter, or black holes.

But in deeply religious and superstitious India, fears about the experiment and the minor risks associated with it spread rapidly through the media.

In east India, thousands of people rushed to temples to pray and fast while others savoured their favourite foods in anticipation of the world’s end.—Reuters

Girl commits suicide over ‘Big Bang’ fear -DAWN - Top Stories; September 11, 2008

 

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27 Pakistanis participated in ‘Big Bang’ experiment

ISLAMABAD: At least 27 Pakistani scientists were part of an enormous project launched in France and Switzerland last week that will recreate the conditions that existed moments after the ‘Big Bang’, an official said on Tuesday. The project is the world’s largest atom smasher and conducted its first test last Wednesday around the 17-mile tunnel deep along the Swiss-French border. “Fifteen physicists, 10 engineers, five laser and opto-electronic experts, six computer professionals and six students from the National Centre for Physics (NCP) and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) are involved in the experiment,” former NCP director general Dr Riazuddin told the media. The data from the experiment would be available to Pakistani scientists who would accumulate the results after examining them, he added. Riazuddin said five Pakistani scientists were present during the ‘Big Bang’ experiment including Dr Jamila Bashir Butt, Hassan Shahzad, Taimur Khurshid, Saleh Muhammad and Muhammad Ahmad, adding that Wajid A Khan, Adeelur Rehman, Ishtiaq Hussain, Waqar Ahmad, Shemoona Fawad Khan, Imran Malik, Zia Aftab and Shariq Khan were involved in various stages of the experiment. app

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