US atom smasher may have found new force of nature

robgmun · 7 Apr 2011 at 14:52

Khaaan! said:
Quiver ladies, quiver.

Super Green!!

Rameses · 7 Apr 2011 at 14:54

so Jedi powers may yet still be possible? EXCELLENT.

May the force be with us, always.

B@Th*nG · 7 Apr 2011 at 15:09

merlin said:
Joking apart - what's the bet this new force is turned into a weapon inside 5 years?

haha, christ, invent your own misery why not!

even if they dont' quite get to the bottom of it before the funding dries up then surely they'd find the thing in the LHC. Am i right in thinking that they're effectively the same machine?

B@

Six7th · 7 Apr 2011 at 15:16

Yeah, the LHC is just bigger and badder

SiriusB · 7 Apr 2011 at 18:08

~~#M-Bizzle#~~ said:
Cool stuff. Seems to be getting on with it a lot better than the Hardon collider over in Switzerland.

Spelling intended

The Fermilab's machine is nearly 30 years old. The LHC has only been operational a few years, less if you count the technical issue they had when some of their magnets burned out. :eek:

joemo13 · 7 Apr 2011 at 18:15

Six7th said:
In my view, I doubt there'd be any practical application for it...

Wasn't that what the guy who invented the first microprocessor said...
And I thought a fifth force was a solution to the previous forces, ie that they can all be explained by one?

SiriusB · 7 Apr 2011 at 18:25

joemo13 said:
Wasn't that what the guy who invented the first microprocessor said...
And I thought a fifth force was a solution to the previous forces, ie that they can all be explained by one?

It's believed by many physicists that all forces were one uber force at the start of the Universe.

Strife212 · 7 Apr 2011 at 18:28

The US machine began its work in the mid 1980s, and is scheduled for shutdown later this year when its funding runs dry.

int · 7 Apr 2011 at 18:47

Funny that this has come about just as it's about to be decommissioned

Good news everybody!

WingZero30 · 7 Apr 2011 at 18:49

merlin said:
This is the force that makes matching socks disappear in my washing machine.

joemo13 · 7 Apr 2011 at 19:09

int said:
Funny that this has come about just as it's about to be decommissioned

Good news everybody!

Surely an accelerator will be best at finding new stuff near the end of its life as it will have had years of tuning and experiments for it to be able to detect the most minute fluctuations in its experiments.

Overslop · 7 Apr 2011 at 19:21

Page 2 and no joke about smashing pasty?

Biohazard · 7 Apr 2011 at 19:24

would be pointless with atoms

Curio · 7 Apr 2011 at 19:29

Perfect example of why I'm so open-minded about subjects like UFO's and "paranormal" activity. We think we're so damn smart, and this-and-that couldn't possibly happen......and then "oh, we might have discovered a new force of nature, by the way" :rolleyes:

NOTE: Before the usual suspects get stuck in, I'm NOT saying this is proof of anything! I'm just saying that there are some pretty fundamental workings of the universe we don't have a clue about, like this one. To me that means we have no right ruling anything out completely.

Energize · 7 Apr 2011 at 19:36

Curio said:
Perfect example of why I'm so open-minded about subjects like UFO's and "paranormal" activity. We think we're so damn smart, and this-and-that couldn't possibly happen......and then "oh, we might have discovered a new force of nature, by the way"

NOTE: Before the usual suspects get stuck in, I'm NOT saying this is proof of anything! I'm just saying that there are some pretty fundamental workings of the universe we don't have a clue about, like this one. To me that means we have no right ruling anything out completely.

Who said this couldn't possibly happen? In fact scientists said that more discoveries like this would be needed to understand things like mass...

fini · 7 Apr 2011 at 19:40

I think the mentioning of the funding is a little harsh. The NIH only provide funding on a per-year basis in any case...