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[spiderman123]

Scientists using the world's largest atom smasher have made some of the hottest and densest matter ever achieved on Earth.

The state of matter called a quark gluon plasma existed in the milliseconds after the big bang 13.7 billion years ago.

Physicists using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, the European Centre for Nuclear Research, smashed heavy lead ions together at close to the speed of light.

They generated temperatures of more than 1.6 trillion degrees Celsius, 100,000 times hotter than the centre of the Sun.

In the process they recreated the densest material ever observed - only black holes are denser.

The results - released at the Quark Matter Conference recently held in Annecy, France - allows scientists to understand the evolution of the early universe recreating the conditions that existed back then.

One of the fundamental building blocks of matter, called quarks, are bound together by gluons to form 'composite' subatomic particles such as protons and neutrons.

But in its infancy, just microseconds after the Big Bang, the universe was so hot and dense these quarks and gluons existed freely and unbound.

The new results confirm that quark gluon plasma acts almost like a fluid, with minimal viscosity.

The results are based on analysis of data collected during the last two weeks of the 2010 LHC run, when the atom smasher switched from colliding hydrogen protons to lead-ions.

The LHC heavy-ion program builds on experiments conducted more than a decade earlier at CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron accelerator, which saw hints that a quark gluon plasma could be created and studied in the laboratory.

Then, in 1999, the US Brookhaven National Laboratory's Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider established that a quark gluon plasma could be created on a miniscule scale.

Professor Geoffrey Taylor, from the University of Melbourne and part of the scientific team involved with the Large Hadron Collider's Atlas Detector, describes the work as an amazing achievement.

"This state of matter doesn't exist anywhere naturally on Earth and is thought to only now occur during the collision of two neutron stars," he said.

"This will help our understanding of the dynamics of the astrophysical processes taking place as a star collapses.

"Looking at how particle jets and subatomic particles like W and Z bosons are created in heavy lead ion collisions compared to lighter hydrogen proton collisions gives us an insight into the conditions that existed in a quark gluon plasma when the universe was just milliseconds old."

Professor Taylor says the results were accomplished in just two weeks of atom smashing.

"These collisions are also generating antimatter, which will help us try to understand why we live in a stable universe of matter when equal amounts of matter and antimatter were created in the big bang," he said.

"It takes our understanding of things that are happening in the cosmos one step further."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/14/3243341.htm?section=justin

lock if old please

 

[RoboPlato]

This is really cool. The LHC can do some awesome stuff.

 

[rekameohs]

 

[xbhaskarx]

If this experiment had destroyed our planet you know that rapture dude would take the credit.

 

[foodtaster]

interesting how scientists speak of the big bang like it is confirmed history

 

[Fersis]

Should be named after Monica Bellucci.

 

[Stinkles]

interesting how scientists speak of the big bang like it is confirmed history

I know. They are worse than those Pointdexters that try to say I am related to a monkey.

 

[TekkenMaster]

I'm so excited for the LHC to do collisions at full power...we could see the beginning of a whole new era in physics.

 

[Buttchin]

interesting how scientists speak of the big bang like it is confirmed history

***gets popcorn***

 

[Phantast2k]

interesting how scientists speak of the big bang like it is confirmed history

Should they mention god in every sentence?

 

[AceBandage]

So, can this cook my burrito in record time?

 

[spiderman123]

Should be named after Monica Bellucci.

I lol'd

 

[vordhosbn]

Should be named after Monica Bellucci.

I approve.

 

[Nemo]

If I touch it with just the tip of my finger, how much will burn off?

 

[Monocle]

interesting how scientists speak of the big bang like it is confirmed history

Damn that academic elite and their evil technologies. Science never helped no one.

 

[Anerythristic]

This is going to cause some accident, eventually. Hopefully people don't die, never mind the entire planet.

 

[spiderman123]

interesting how scientists speak of the big bang like it is confirmed history

define "confirmed history" please.

 

[iNvid02]

If I touch it with just the tip of my finger, how much will burn off?

your dick will fall off

 

[foodtaster]

Should they mention god in every sentence?

What does God have to do with anything?

 

[Red]

This is going to cause some accident, eventually. Hopefully people don't die, never mind the entire planet.

What if the universe was created from experiments like this? Some ancient civilization running their own LHC. That goes horribly wrong.

The Big Bang: The Movie.

The porn spoof won't even need to be renamed.

 

[Fenderputty]

I was reading about this the other day. It's pretty awesome stuff. They're expecting to have an awswer about the existance of the Higgs by the end of 2012. Not sure how they set that timeline, but whatever. I acutally think it would be cooler for them to NOT find it, re-evaluate and go back to the drawing board.

 

[Kaako]

That is freaking awesome. Hooray for the LHC @ CERN and everyone involved.

 

[mjc]

interesting how scientists speak of the big bang like it is confirmed history

What version do you prefer given the data we've gathered?

 

[OliveJuice]

How long did it last, how much energy was required and how did all that heat dissipate?
Well I guess the size of the matter allowed the heat to dissipate...

If only this could be used for something like nuclear fusion.

I was reading about this the other day. It's pretty awesome stuff. They're expecting to have an awswer about the existance of the Higgs by the end of 2012. Not sure how they set that timeline, but whatever. I acutally think it would be cooler for them to NOT find it, re-evaluate and go back to the drawing board.

I think that has to do with the time required to process the peta(?)bytes of data from the experiments by their grid and scientists.

 

[Anerythristic]

interesting how scientists speak of the big bang like it is confirmed history

I feel you. They are breaking their own rules.

 

[daw840]

That's awesome and scary all at the same time! Go science!

 

[Always-honest]

holy shit... that's bizarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[SUPREME1]

*Paris Hilton*

 

[Starfish_Oxide]

Lolwut? my parents aren't scientists.

 

[Atrus]

"So what did you do today?"

"Oh you know... create a substance so hot it can only be compared to the collision of two neutron stars."

 

[Seanspeed]

I'm always amazed by how life exists in such polar realms of temperature. Absolute zero is just a few hundred below what we can deal with, yet there's like trillions of degrees above us that can exist. Crazy.

 

[ZZMitch]

Lolwut? my parents aren't scientists.

 

[Aristion]

interesting how scientists speak of the big bang like it is confirmed history

The Universe came into existence approximately 14.5 billion years ago. That's a fact.

 

[Degen]

But can they see why kids love Cinnamon Toast Crunch?

 

[Cereal KiIIer]

Am I the only college educated gaffer who think more and more than he is either really dumb, or people dumber than him are REALLY dumb?

 

[Feep]

The Universe came into existence approximately 13.75 +/- 0.11 billion years ago. That's a fact.

Fixed.

 

[The Friendly Monster]

I'm always amazed by how life exists in such polar realms of temperature. Absolute zero is just a few hundred below what we can deal with, yet there's like trillions of degrees above us that can exist. Crazy.

This makes no sense. It's like being impressed at the fact that we only have 10 fingers when that's so close to absolute zero fingers yet I can imagine having trillions.

That's just how numbers work...

 

[Plasmid]

Make a movie after it so i can use it in the penis reference thread.

 

[Monocle]

I feel you. They are breaking their own rules.

Or: scientists talk about theories like they're confirmed history (that is, true to the best of our current knowledge) because often they are.

It is the tacit understanding of scientists and scientifically literate people that science is tentative, self-correcting, and open to revision. No reasonable person would expect someone to reaffirm all that every time they mention a theory. How would anyone get any science done if they took 20 minutes to rattle off a list of qualifications for every remark they made about it?

 

[Handycrap101]

The Universe came into existence approximately 14.5 billion years ago.*

Given the data that's been gathered.

 

[tiff]

Given the data that's been gathered.

Everything is based on data that's been gathered.

 

[Feep]

Given the data that's been gathered.

You post on a forum called NeoGAF*

Given the data that's been gathered.

This qualification is ridiculous. Literally every piece of information humanity has ever gathered is based off of the data that's been gathered. Don't make it out like The Big Bang is more suspect than any other bit of knowledge we've obtained about the universe.

Edit: Beaten like an egg.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Heat levels 100,000 times that of the centre of the sun?

I can't imagine how tiny that thing must have been to not burn down the entire facility where it was created.

 

[Monocle]

You post on a forum called NeoGAF*

Given the data that's been gathered.

This qualification is ridiculous. Literally every piece of information humanity has ever gathered is based off of the data that's been gathered. Don't make it out like The Big Bang is more suspect than any other bit of knowledge we've obtained about the universe.

Edit: Beaten like an egg.

u think dats air ur breathing now

maybe it isnt!!!!

 

[Cyan]

Literally every piece of information humanity has ever gathered is based off of the data that's been gathered.

Well. Given the data that's been gathered.

Spoiler

Inception.

 

[Feep]

Well. Given the data that's been gathered.

Spoiler

Inception.

:O

 

[foodtaster]

Damn that academic elite and their evil technologies. Science never helped no one.

yep, that's exactly what i said, derp

 

[AVclub]

Came for ScarJo pix. Left disappointed.

 

[Ether_Snake]

So what would prevent them from smashing millions of iron atoms together?

And what would happen then?

 

[Seanspeed]

This makes no sense. It's like being impressed at the fact that we only have 10 fingers when that's so close to absolute zero fingers yet I can imagine having trillions.

That's just how numbers work...

Can you REALLY imagine having trillions of fingers, though? I kind of doubt that.

The point is that life is just so 'conditional' and in terms of temperatures, we can only exist in the very bottom of whats possible. We're far closer to absolute zero than we are even 1000 degrees. Let alone a trillion.

I'm sorry you cant see the wonder in this. For me, it just makes life even more special. My mere existence is always being made more special the more science discovers these crazy wonders of the univerise. The bigger and crazier it all is, the less likely I should exist. Yet here I am, having been given the chance. I remain grateful. Maybe to no-one in particular, but grateful nonetheless.

I love life. I love existing. I love knowing that the universe is inexplicably large and complicated, but *I* get the chance to experience it and know perhaps a little about it.

Fuck yea, science!