I’ve been watching with interest the progress in CERN’s LHC and the upcoming first proton beam over the 27 km loop. Wednesday, September 10, 2008 is the day and I’m excited to hear how the tests go. The beam will be only in one direction, so any collisions will be from stray particles or beam positioning errors. However, as they calibrate the detectors and other instruments, it won’t be long until the many experiments planned for the LHC will commence. In particular, the search for the Higgs Boson is really exciting since this may finally add the source of mass for particles in the Standard Model.
One really enjoyable overview of the LHC is AlpineKat’s LHC Rap:
I really enjoyed Ben Stein’s work up to now (including “Win Ben Stein’s Money”), but I’m afraid my opinion of Mr. Stein has been lessened by news of his upcoming movie Expelled – No Intelligence Allowed which is coming out April 18th 2008. I have not seen this movie yet, but the scientists whom I deeply respect report misrepresentations of the project’s intent during the production of this movie. In addition, PZ Myers (who was in the movie and thanked in the credits) was “expelled” from an early screening for little provocation. Quite ironic – don’t you think? Please see this site for information about the misrepresentation made to those scientists about this project – and shame on you Ben Stein and your producers! Expelled Exposed – Flunked, not Expelled: What Ben Stein isn’t telling you about Intelligent Design
