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Supernovae may generate life-giving carbon atoms faster than thought
Using supercomputer simulations, Michigan State University scientists have found that exploding stars create life-giving carbon atoms much faster than they thought. However, that discovery has created another mystery that could upend current theories of element creation and help fuel new science in the areas of astronomy and fusion.
The Large Hadron Collider is smashing protons together again
It's been a long wait, but finally CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is back doing what it does best: smashing protons together. The machine was effectively shut down for two years while engineers in Switzerland carried out important upgrades. Scientists started firing proton beams again back in April, but avoided any collisions while they checked the new components were working properly. Now, CERN has announced that it's carrying out proton-proton collisions again. The beams are being fired at a lower energy of 450 gigaelectronvolts (GeV), however, so that CERN can check its particle detection systems are firing correctly. The plan is to ramp up the LHC so it can handle dual proton beams at 6.5 TeV - almost double what it was operating at before the shutdown -- for 13 TeV collisions later this summer. The Higgs boson was discovered last time, so we're hoping something equally remarkable is uncovered during its sophomore season.
Sensitive scales can weigh individual atoms, ensure perfect recipes
Those of you who have navigated beyond using an Easy-Bake Oven will know that weighing out ingredients is a chore. Then again, it's nothing compared to the sort of balancing that takes place at the Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology, where a team has developed a method of weighing individual protons. Using heated, shortened carbon nanotubes in a vacuum, the scale vibrates at different frequencies depending on what molecules are balanced on top. The Yoctogram-scale will enable scientists to diagnose health conditions by finding differences in mass, identifying elements in chemical samples that only differ at the atomic level and ensuring you never over-flour your batter mix again.
Squid extract bridges human / machine divide, cyborgs to become very real
If we ever manage to capture a live giant squid, researchers at the University of Washington are going to have a field day. Enterprising minds at the institution's materials science and engineering department have discovered a use for chitosan -- an extract made from squid pen or crab shells that could lead us down a cybernetic road to human / machine interfaces. The team incorporated the organic compound into their field-effect transistor prototype, and effectively created the first protonic circuitry "that's completely analogous to [the way] an electronic current" can be manipulated. Naturally, the silicon-based tech isn't ready (or safe) for implantation into humans just yet, but could one day be used to control biological functions, sending on / off commands to our bodies. So, maybe we won't have to fear that robot apocalypse, after all. You never know, give scientists ample time to fully flesh this advancement out and Spielberg's next great cinematic, sci-fi opus could wind up becoming a cyborg rom-com. Stranger things have happened folks.
Large Hadron Collider wants to make mini Big Bangs, Sheldon and Leonard disapprove
The Large Hadron Collider has been busily colliding protons since it opened last year, but a new set of experiments starting later this month could tell us more about the beginnings of the universe than we've ever known before. At CERN, where the LHC is housed in Geneva, scientists will attempt to create mini Big Bangs (the full-sized one is generally accepted as having created the actual universe about 13.7 billion years ago). The process will involve shooting lead ions through the 17-mile long collider, and accelerating them to relativistic speeds before colliding them head-on with protons. According to popular wisdom this should cause an explosion resulting in the creation of brand spanking new particles. Although similar experiments have been conducted on a much smaller scale at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, this will be the first time scientists have attempted to accurately recreate conditions exactly like the Big Bang. Hit the source link for the full story.
What would happen if you put your hand in the Large Hadron Collider? Er, well, um... (video)
Scientists, they've made our lives infinitely easier, healthier, and longer, but sometimes even their giant intellects can be stumped. Here we have a perfect example of such a scenario, where the seemingly innocuous question of what might happen if one were to dip a hand inside the Large Hadron Collider has generated a wide range of hypotheses, none of which sound particularly assured of being correct. The trouble is that, aside from the known unknowns -- such as whether the accelerated protons would crash and explode upon contact with your hand or just pass through -- there are surely unknown unknowns that will likely become apparent only once you try to do the act itself. So, any volunteers?
Large Hadron Collider reboots, makes first protonic bang!
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that most epic triumph of human engineering and physics research has finally taken place, and strangely enough our planet's still in one piece too. The search for the Higgs boson particle resumed yesterday, somewhere under the Franco-Swiss border, with the CERN research team successfully executing what the LHC was built to do -- accelerating proton beams to nearly the speed of light, then filming the wreckage as they crash into each other. Having encountered a number of bumps in the road, the researchers have had to significantly scale down the energy at which their early collisions will take place, with the very first ones said to have happened at 900 billion electron volts. Still, plans are afoot for an imminent shift up to 1.2 trillion electron volts (TeV), which would be the highest energy level any particle accelerator has achieved yet, before a ramp up to 7 TeV over the coming year if all goes well.
