• Question: what do you think about you think about the l.h.c exsperiment

    Asked by david13464 to Alastair, Emma, Hywel, Keith, Vicki on 17 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Alastair Sloan

      Alastair Sloan answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      I think its fantastic. No only are scientists trying to understand the really difficult questions about how our universe formed, but lots of scientists from different countries are all working together which is a good thing

    • Photo: Keith Brain

      Keith Brain answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      I don’t have any concerns that the activity of the lhc is dangerous. The Large Hadron Collider is very big and expensive, and I sometimes do wonder whether the money could have been spent better elsewhere.

      In an economic crisis, I think that finding the Higgs boson is probably not the top priority, at least not at a cost of $US9 billion. The boson will still be there in a few years.

    • Photo: Emma Carter

      Emma Carter answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      It sounds quite exciting. I’m not a particle physicist but I did visit the Diamond light source in the UK (a much smaller particle accelerator than the LHC but a similar concept). I don’t think it will cause some catastrophic event that sucks us all into a black hole as some people have speculated – but I could be wrong 😉

    • Photo: Hywel Vaughan

      Hywel Vaughan answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      I think that the LHC is a great example of science and engineering David!
      The search for the Higgs Boson (or what now may be several Higgs Bosons) is us trying to understand the fundamental elements of the universe we live in. It could very well lead to new technologies and even possibly new forms of energy that will benefit all mankind.
      Granted there has been a lot of publicity over the ‘risks’ of this experiment (black hole anyone?), but I think that sometimes you need to take those chances to further our understanding of the universe. As long as you are careful, science can really advance.
      The project as a whole shows collaboration between scientists, engineers and physicists all over the world, all working together to reach one goal. That isn’t something that happens very often 🙂

    • Photo: Vicki Stevenson

      Vicki Stevenson answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      I’m more interested in applied science which can help people in the near future, so although I know the hadron collider exists, I haven’t spent much time looking into the experiments they’re carrying out. They’re hoping to prove the existence of the Higgs Boson (also known as The God Particle).

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