After Higgs Boson, scientists prepare for next quantum leap

Above is the result of what happens when someone who doesn't understand science writes an article about science.

basroil the total cost its more than 8 billion euros. the measly 130 million Japan provided should not give it more than observer country status.

I'm confused... is the Universe the fork, the honey, or the dusty air? Where does the honey come from? Was the honey jar created by the Big Bang, or did it exist before that? Why spend 8 billion Euros? I have a fork and a jar of honey in my kitchen, and it's pretty dusty in there at times...

Xeno23, as I understand it, the fork is the universe, the honey is the Higgs-Boson particle and the dust is the things we would call "matter". Now as for what the spoon represents...

Fear not about the energy of particles in the LHC, it is almost nothing compared to the energy of the Oh-My-God particle. Check it out in wikipedia!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh-My-God_particle

rather technical and manufacturing expertise and resources.

If it were for free, you would have a point. All that expertise and manufacturing was provided for a hefty price the Euros paid.

Just what sort of effects will be experienced by creating these particles is anyone's guess - are we playing with fire?

ebisenFeb. 16, 2013 - 07:39AM JST

All that expertise and manufacturing was provided for a hefty price the Euros paid.

Nope, most of that was paid in yen, dollar, and rubles, with a good deal of francs and pounds too. And the magnets, which are half the entire project, were developed with US taxpayer money, since they were based on ones used in US accelerators.

kurisupisuFeb. 17, 2013 - 11:36AM JST

Just what sort of effects will be experienced by creating these particles is anyone's guess - are we playing with fire?

Don't worry, collisions with the same energy happen roughly once per second per square meter, everywhere on earth due to cosmic rays. In the LHC, those collisions are simply concentrated into a much smaller area and surrounded with vast particle detectors. No real difference between that and the tens of millions per year that go through you.

All the Higgs-Boson mass calculations mean is that now we know it is possible for Woody Allen's statement:",“I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens,” to be true.

First millisecond of universe must be very dangerous place to be so scientist recreating Big Bang event should be careful not to trigger reaction that would scoop up all matter back to that original millisecond.

CERN’s member states are European, but the prestigious organization has global reach. India, Japan, Russia and the United States participate as observers.

Leave it to the french to marginalize everyone else... Japan provided over 130 million to the project (three times more than the upgrade cost), as well as providing most of the superconducting cables and a good deal of secondary magnets. USA also provided a good deal of parts including the primary magnets and half the rest of the components that Japan didn't provide. Practically the only thing that france did was provide energy and "allow" it to be built where it was. "observer" status does NOT mean that they "participate as observers", rather that they are simply not part of EU.

JonathanJoFeb. 15, 2013 - 05:15AM JST

Fear not about the energy of particles in the LHC, it is almost nothing compared to the energy of the Oh-My-God particle. Check it out in wikipedia!

You can see a better comparison between the LHC and the we-are-so-screwed particle here:

http://what-if.xkcd.com/20/

ebisenFeb. 14, 2013 - 08:57PM JST

the total cost its more than 8 billion euros. the measly 130 million Japan provided

I think you fail to see the point. It's not the direct financing that Japan and USA provided, rather technical and manufacturing expertise and resources. The foundries that they would have had to make for the materials would have been in the tens of billions, or at least several billion in direct contracts. And those countries are the ones providing the continuing financing for the LHC, since CERN countries make up just 20% of the yearly expenses.

should not give it more than observer country status.

Absolutely ridiculous. "observer" status is given to LHC financiers not in EU but have given as much or more than EU members. CERN itself only covered 70% of the accelerator cost (which is 3 billion euro, not 8) and just 20% of the actual project costs , with only 13% of ATLAS. The US actually funded ATLAS more than the entire EU combined! (20% vs 13%)