See those funky particle physicists doing the CERN Rap
If you thought physicists were uptight geeks dealing with incomprehensible concepts you need to see this:
CERN’s video scores on three counts. First, it’s a powerful elevator pitch for the Large Hadron Collider. It takes just under five minutes of video, words and music to explain in simple, easy-to-understand terms exactly what scientists are looking for and why the Higgs Boson, or the lack of it, are so important. The video does this without being patronising, but at a level just about everyone over the age of eight can easily grasp. If only all scientists could communicate this well.
Second, by explaining complex scientific concepts in such easy-to-understand terms, the video manages to popularise the whole Large Hadron Collider idea in particular and physics in general. The LHC is the most inspiring project of our age, it ranks alongside the Apollo programme. It’s exciting and could trigger a worldwide revival of interest in physics and other hard sciences at a time when the discipline has been in decline with many universities closing or downgrading physics departments.
Finally, it shows that science and physics can be fun. Exploring the limits of human knowledge is a serious goal, but it isn’t just dry and abstract, it can be enjoyable too.
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How much do you know about white dwarfs and neutron stars?
Question: How many cosmic rays strike a neutron star in one Earth year?
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Answer: Zero, the magnetic field of a neutron star is 1,000,000,000,000 times more powerful than Earth’s!
Magnetic fields of white dwarfs are 1,000,000 times Earth’s.
jtankers
July 31, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Please disregard my flawed neutron star conjecture above.
The neutron star and cosmic ray safety arguments in the 2008 LHC Safety Report were deemed “unverified” by CERN’s Scientific Policy Committee, but not for the reasons above.
Credible arguments that neutron stars do not prove safety may be found in points 5, 6 and 7 of http://www.wissensnavigator.com/documents/spiritualottoeroessler.pdf
jtankers
August 2, 2008 at 1:08 am