Cartoon Pen & Watercolour
Copyright 2008 Jean Burman
Okay… so we’re ALL STILL HERE!
So far… no black holes… no implosions of the planet… no end of the world… no swallowing of the earth into the infinite black void. So far. But it’s early days yet. And if the hackers have their way… as they did on Friday… who knows what the final outcome might be?
But getting back to the issue of boys and their toys (oops… I meant physics)
As the world turned last Wednesday night… physicists from around the globe (some of them in their pyjamas – others sipping champagne) waited and watched as the world’s largest particle accelerator… the Large Hadron Collider (LHC for short)… was switched on for the very first time.
The atmosphere of expectation could have been measured against humankind’s long awaited first steps on the moon back in 1969. And this ambitious experiment may eventually prove to be even more significant and impactful than that.
It will be anywhere between a week and several months before the first protons collide somewhere along the LHC’s 27 kilometre length. And then… apparently… all will be revealed.
Questions like:
1. Where did we really come from… and why?
2. What really happened in the moments after the Big Bang?
3. Are there more dimensions than the three we have grown somewhat accustomed to?
(Let’s face it… as a visual artist with a vested interest in the two dimensional… I simply must know what challenges lie ahead for we artists living and working in the parallel world! chuckles)
Hey… come to think of it… these physicists could have saved themselves a truckload of time and money by looking to the art world for an answer to this one. Picasso for one… lived and worked in the parallel world… as did Jackson Pollock… and Salvador Dali to name but a few. Each had a unique and individual perspective on the world. All lived in the parallel world and reported back (pretty accurately) what they saw! Pretty scarey really.
4. Do black holes exist… and how can we manufacture one?
The experts need look no further than the literary world for the skinny on this one. Way back in 1854 Henry David Thoreau wrote… “the MASS of men lead lives of quiet desperation” Now there’s a guy who knew a MASSive black hole when he saw one!
5. Will the elusive God particle be found… explaining once and for all “how matter has mass”? (Something I’m sure most of us have been wondering about for much of our lives… grin)
The question of whether matter has mass… or mass has matter… or whether it matters at all if mass has matter… or matter has mass… (or whatever – sheesh)… is now something for physicists and their financial backers to ponder over and agonise about in the years to come.
What horrors this new technology might unleash are as yet unknown… although we have been given “many and varied relatively vague assurances that the experiment is ENTIRELY safe”. It was rather concerning then… when leading physicist in charge of the project Dr Lyn Evans (Evans the Atom to his friends) in all the confusion on the control room floor didn’t quite know (and had to ask his equally confused team)… “who’s going to remove the TDI” (the TDI? What TDI? Um – what in the heck is a TDI?) to allow the beam to flow through into the LHC.
Okay that’s about as clear as mud… so watch the video here and see for yourself.
NB. Scroll through until around about the middle if you’re not the type who enjoys watching grass grow.
For the man/woman in the street… truth is… it doesn’t matter. The matter of mass is all done and dusted. The Large Hadron Collider is here to stay… along with genetic engineering of crops and destruction of the food chain… in vitro genetic pre-selection of people… and the indiscriminate dissemination of nuclear warheads by irresponsible, morally corrupt despots. Like it or lump it… (one lump or two?)… it’s a BRAVE … if somewhat stupid… NEW WORLD.
“But”… you might exclaim… “no-one consulted me!”
So what’s new? Information is released on a need to know basis. You didn’t need to know. Did you?
It’s all mind over matter anyway.
They don’t mind and… quite frankly… you don’t “matter”
Sorry… (big cheesey grin)
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
The more I hear about this, the less I seem to understand it. I am sure their will be implications, and I would love to hear what they are expressed in language I understand.
When you think about walking on the moon, what were the implications for us, teflon?? what else? I can’t think at this late hour. So what applications will flow from knowing these answers do you think?
I love the way you write Jean.
Thanks Joh!
You know… I can’t for the life of me imagine what applications will flow from this research. I guess that’s why I make this irreverent somewhat tongue in cheek offering (words which I may one day be forced to swallow whole!) LOL Naturally I am all ears if anyone can fill me in. Until then I shall remain optimistic and open minded… yet still… ever so slightly skeptical! ((LOL)) Thanks for stopping by Joh… and so late too. A fellow night owl then? Do you think we should make some hot chocolate?
Funny stuff, Jean!
I just don’t get this big bang stuff. I mean, before the pop, what was there? Just an infinitesimally small speck with immeasurably huge amounts of energy crammked into it and floating around in…. what? Space? That went on forever? Yikes.
Thanks John!
Yeah… I don’t get it either. In fact I think you could do your head in thinking about it too hard. The concept of “absolutely nothing” is too difficult to contemplate. I’m not altogether sure the scientists have really thought about it from that angle either… caught up as they are in the excitement of new discoveries. If they were to stop for a moment and contemplate what it is they are actually uncovering… the possibility of discovering that all life resides in an absolute “void”… I wonder if they would still be all that excited?
I think we are meddling where we shouldn’t… just because we can. So many scientific advances have the potential for real harm. Take microwave technology for instance. There doesn’t appear to be much prudence in the decision to plunge head first into new technologies before first delving into what the possible downside might be. Science seems to have a “suck it and see” attitude toward pretty much everything. It will be way too late when the Genie is out of the bottle.
Crikey… and all THIS before breakfast! (((LOL)))
There must be a Hollywood blockbuster in there somewhere Jean!! What if this recent experiment did work and the effects will not be felt, until….it all starts all over again!!! talk about past lives revisited!
Mmm well that’s right Jools! Who would know? If they knew already (I guess) they wouldn’t be conducting the experiment in the first place! LOL
The experiment itself seems innocuous enough but (like most cutting edge science) little will be understood until the door is opened. Once it is opened there will be no going back. And if it is interfered with after the door is opened we will really be in strife.
Hackers identifying themselves as Group 2600 of the Greek Security Team got into the Collider’s main computer system soon after the thing was switched on last Wednesday. They were stopped just one step away from gaining full control of the Collider’s central computer system. Why an event such as this had not been fully anticipated is difficult to comprehend.
The forces of evil are everywhere… and their capacity to wreak havoc should not have been underestimated. The group claims to have infiltrated the system simply to prove that it could be done… opening a whole new (previously unrealised) dimension of possiblity to the whole experimental programme!
I watched the documentary “In the Shadow of the Moon” last night. It was a fantastic account of man’s first forays into space (including the first lunar landing) as told by the astronauts themselves. These guys are now well into their 70s. What surprised me most was how comparatively underprepared they were to venture forth into this brave new realm.
They went off even without knowing for sure they would ever return. That’s not to say they weren’t incredibly brave intelligent and capable men… they were. (In fact… these men were made of stuff rarely seen in people today!)
But in hindsight the whole space programme was built upon a leap of faith… and a bloody minded desire to beat the Russians to it!
Incredible.
Lol!! Incentive enough Jean..what happened to “its not wether you win or lose..but how you play the game!” Another tangent leading from this, is the exploration of Mars…now there is something that the imagination can truely “toy” with!
According to Paul McCartney… “Venus and Mars are alright tonight” so we probably should leave well enough alone! LOL But I did read somewhere that last Thursday night Venus and Mars were situated in one of the closest planetary conjunctions of the year. Venus is easy to spot just after dusk… due west in the early evening sky. Mars should be right beside it… but nigh on impossible to see with the naked eye. What implications this has for relationships I’ll leave to the astrologers. I’m sure they’ll manage to come up with something deep and meaningful! LOL
Hmmm…Venus is love and Mars is war, good heavens Jean – anything could happen!
Okay throwing the cat among the pigeons here. If men are truly from Mars and women are from Venus… it’s interesting to note that Venus is the bigger and brighter planet (at least from Earth’s perspective) (((chuckles)))
Lol!! Now you are talking Jean!!! I wonder what would happen if women ruled the world. Would we be Amazons..or would we be “earth mothers’????
What a boring old place it would be if women ruled the world. Better to have a nice even mix. What we lose on the merry go round we pick up on the hurdy gurdy kind of stuff… (or however the saying goes) LOL
That is a fair statement Jean!