Commercial Break: Elephants, They Be Painting

Glorious. Magnificent. And possibly a result of some good ole fashioned animal torture in order to produce an anomaly in the world of animal sociology. Geez, that wasn't called for at all was it? This is kind of my double-edged sword for posting this. 

Its easy to be a pessimist isn't it? Even something as odd and kinda cool as an elephant touching up a painting [one can only assume] he/she had been working on, could be the result of something negative. At the same time, its also double-delusional to think this creative little pachyderm dropped out of the womb with a the itch to get his Bob Ross on.

I'd prefer to think positive in spite of my cynical brain's negative leanings.

Update: LHC Shutdown from Glitch

Yep...I see what the problem is...Cheetos in the Magnets....

My obsession and I'm sure many others out there, the LHC [Large Hadron Collider] has suffered a minor setback from what would appear to be a 'slight over heating' of a transformer.  Alex Higgins reports for the Associated Press:

The faulty transformer has been replaced and the ring in the 17-mile circular tunnel under the Swiss-French border has been cooled back down to near zero on the Kelvin scale — minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit — the most efficient operating temperature, said a statement by CERN, as the organization is known.

When the transformer malfunctioned, operating temperatures rose from below 2 Kelvin to 4.5 Kelvin — extraordinarily cold by most standards, but warmer than the normal operating temperature.

Total bummer...just when you thought this week couldn't get worse...then this happens.  To make matters worse, due to the complexities of the LHC...its still questionable as to when it will be up and running again. It looks workable, but man...i just got slightly MORE nervous about this whole 'milestone in technology'.

Read more here.

CERN Lab In 3 minutes

Okay...so it is the big day. I'm actually typing this on Tuesday, the 9th of September.  So if you are reading this then the earth wasn't destroyed...err...well the internet is still intact and so is whatever spaceship you've managed to stitch together. The above clip is the CERN lab explained [purpose, history, hubbub, etc.] in 3 minutes.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research known as CERN is the world's largest particle physics laboratory, situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco-Swiss border. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will begin operations soon. On September 10th, the most sophisticated particle accelerator will go online, injecting the first circulation of accelerated particles. Actual experiments involving collisions will occur once scientists are satisfied the LHC is fully optimized and calibration is complete. The LHC has been undergoing "cool-down" for some time, ensuring the LHC's eight sectors are approaching the 1.9K (-271°C) operational temperature (that is 1.9 degrees above absolute zero). All going well, on September 10th, the first beam will be accelerated to an energy of 450 GeV (0.45 TeV), the preliminary step on the path to attaining particle energies of 5 TeV, a record breaking target

After the jump is a clip if things went horribly awry today...

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Hurray For Not Being Blown Up!

We The Best Mang...We Deed It

Although later I am posting another article about the CERN lab itself. If you are reading this then you should know that we, and by we I mean a hand full of physicists and scientist watched two white dots blink on a computer screen. Noticed what's missing? We [and they] did not die! Isn't that awesome!? Not dying rocks! The thing is, this is step one [or step 421] depending on how you look at this of many equally great and dangerous steps to come.

Here's what Alex Higgins [Associated Press] has to add:

"Now that the beam has been successfully tested in clockwise direction, CERN plans to send it counterclockwise. Eventually two beams will be fired in opposite directions with the aim of recreating conditions a split second after the big bang, which scientists theorize was the massive explosion that created the universe."

More photos and the AP article after the jump...

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A Virus Gets A Virus

eeeeeeeeeew Mimivirus

Okay, I can't really express how cool this really is, because there is a large part of my brain still trying to comprehend what the ramifications of this discover. Know this, viruses can be infected and possibly attacked by other, smaller viruses. What this 'could' mean? Viruses are evolving, into what, is still yet to be studied.  What is odd, is that if viruses are evolving, wouldn't that mean that cells [by nature or unnatural means] have to evolve too?

After the jump : The Mamavirus get's infected by the Mimivirus!

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Large Hadron Collider Going Online...Despite Death Threats

"Pay No Attention To The Guy Behind The Curtain!"

Hey crazy people, why do you have to be so crazy? The LHC is literally hours away from being 'turned on' or put online. So wouldn't you know it? Right on cue comes the crazies. Some of the complaints are general and make sense.  Parents and concerned citizens are calling the CERN lab and specific universities to talk directly with the professors and scientists who are involved with the construction of the LHC. Questions of: "Will my family be safe?", "Should we move?"...all good questions to ask.

But then the crazies come out, threatening the thoughtful minds behind the scientific marvel. Not just any threat either, to threaten these peoples' lives simply  because there is not a firm understanding of what is being done. The threats seem to come out of fear than 'prophecy' or 'religious fanaticism'...so I guess we got that going for us.

More from the Daily Tech source article after the jump...

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Rapping About The "Earth Destroyer" (or Large Hardron Collider)

You know...I really am afraid for my life...no seriously...i just peedSpeaking as someone who is working on a personal invention, that and i'm a huge nerdwad when it comes to particle collisions and what not. The Large Hadron Collider is something i've been keeping my eye on since early this spring. True, there is a chance that the Earth can inherit stranglets produce mini-black holes in the very lab where this is being tested [the CERN lab]. There are a number of pros and cons and I feel the more I try to explain this truly 'great moment' in science; the more it sounds like it could be the end of us all.  Its hard to communicate to people that we could find out the inner workings of gravity or even gain ground on the "Big Bang Theory". 

But then there is a young lady named Kate McAlpine from Michigan who writes about science regularly. She made a rap about the LHC and initially when I heard this, I put two and two together pretty hastily. Nerd Science Journalist + Rap = TERRIBLE. Boy was I wrong...peep the video for yourself after the jump.

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