#proton smash experiment

[mysticstronomy]

HOW MANY DIMENSIONS EXIST??

Blog#347

Wednesday, November 8th, 2023

Welcome back,

The world as we know it has three dimensions of space—length, width and depth—and one dimension of time. But there’s the mind-bending possibility that many more dimensions exist out there. According to string theory, one of the leading physics model of the last half century, the universe operates with 10 dimensions.

But that raises a big question: If there are 10 dimensions, then why don’t we experience all of them or haven’t detected them? Lisa Grossman at ScienceNews reports that a new paper suggests an answer, showing that those dimensions are so tiny and so fleeting that we currently can’t detect them.

It’s difficult to completely explain the mathematics behind string theory without putting on a graduate seminar or two, but in essence dimensions five through ten have to do with possibility and include all possible futures and all possible pasts including realities with a totally different physics than those in our universe.

If two protons smash together at high enough speeds, they have the ability to create a tiny black hole that would exist for just a fraction of a second before disappearing, according to a new study, which hasn't been peer-reviewed, on the preprint server arXiv.org. The collision would open up a little bubble of interdimensional space where the laws of physics are different than ours, leading to an event known as vacuum decay. In quantum physics, vacuum decay implies that if the interdimensional space was large enough, we’d be toast.

With enough gravity to interact with our world, the newly formed “Cosmic Death Bubble” would grow at the speed of light, rapidly change the physics of our universe, render it uninhabitable and effectively zap us out of existence.

“If you’re standing nearby when the bubble starts to expand, you don’t see it coming,” the study’s co-author, physicist Katie Mack of North Carolina State University, tells Grossman. “If it’s coming at you from below, your feet stop existing before your mind realizes that.”

Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays are bashing into each other all the time with enough energy to start this process. If extra dimensions were large enough to allow the death bubble to form, the researchers found, it would have happened thousands of times already. The fact that we still exist is one circumstantial piece of evidence that other dimensions are ultra-tiny. The team calculated that they must be smaller than 16 nanometers, too small for their gravity to influence much in our world and hundreds of times smaller than previous calculations, Grossman reports.

The new study comes on the tail of another study about extra dimensions published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics published in July. Mara Johnson-Groh at LiveScience reports that one of the big questions in physics is why the expansion of the universe is accelerating. One theory is that gravity is leaking out of our universe into other dimensions. To test this idea, researchers looked at data from recently discovered gravitational waves.

our universe was leaking gravity through these other dimensions, the researchers reasoned, then the gravitational waves would be weaker than expected after traveling across the universe.

But the researchers found they didn’t lose any energy on their long journey, meaning other dimensions either don’t exist or are so tiny they don’t affect gravity very much, if at all.

“General relativity says gravity should be working in three dimensions, and [the results] show that that’s what we see,” physicist Kris Pardo of Princeton, lead author of the July study, tells Johnson-Groh. The latest study also concludes that the size of extra dimensions is so small that it precludes many theories about gravity leaking out of our universe.

Originally published on www.smithsonianmag.com

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, November 11th, 2023)

"WHAT IS THE FURTHEST THING WE CAN SEE IN SPACE??"

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NASA experiment shows solar wind might make water on the moon

Scientists have hypothesized since the 1960s that the sun is a source of ingredients that form water on the moon. When a stream of charged particles known as the solar wind smashes into the lunar surface, the idea goes, it triggers a chemical reaction that could make water molecules.

Now, in the most realistic lab simulation of this process yet, NASA-led researchers have confirmed this prediction.

The finding, researchers wrote in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, has implications for NASA's Artemis astronaut operations at the moon's South Pole. A critical resource for exploration, much of the water on the moon is thought to be frozen in permanently shadowed regions at the poles.

"The exciting thing here is that with only lunar soil and a basic ingredient from the sun, which is always spitting out hydrogen, there's a possibility of creating water," Li Hsia Yeo, a research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "That's incredible to think about," said Yeo, who led the study.

Solar wind flows constantly from the sun. It's made largely of protons, which are nuclei of hydrogen atoms that have lost their electrons. Traveling at more than 1 million miles per hour, the solar wind bathes the entire solar system. We see evidence of it on Earth when it lights up our sky in auroral light shows.

Most of the solar particles don't reach the surface of Earth because our planet has a magnetic shield and an atmosphere to deflect them. But the moon has no such protection. As computer models and lab experiments have shown, when protons smash into the moon's surface, which is made of a dusty and rocky material called regolith, they collide with electrons and recombine to form hydrogen atoms.

Then, the hydrogen atoms can migrate through the lunar surface and bond with the abundant oxygen atoms already present in minerals like silica to form hydroxyl (OH) molecules, a component of water, and water (H2O) molecules themselves.

Scientists have found evidence of both hydroxyl and water molecules in the moon's upper surface, just a few millimeters deep. These molecules leave behind a kind of chemical fingerprint—a noticeable dip in a wavy line on a graph that shows how light interacts with the regolith. With the current tools available, though, it is difficult to tell the difference between hydroxyl and water, so scientists use the term "water" to refer to either one or a mix of both molecules.

Many researchers think the solar wind is the main reason the molecules are there, though other sources like micrometeorite impacts could also help by creating heat and triggering chemical reactions.

Spacecraft measurements had already hinted that the solar wind is the primary driver of water, or its components, at the lunar surface. One key clue, confirmed by Yeo's team's experiment: the moon's water-related spectral signal changes over the course of the day.

In some regions, it's stronger in the cooler morning and fades as the surface heats up, likely because water and hydrogen molecules move around or escape to space. As the surface cools again at night, the signal peaks again. This daily cycle points to an active source—most likely the solar wind—replenishing tiny amounts of water on the moon each day.

To test whether this is true, Yeo and her colleague, Jason McLain, a research scientist at NASA Goddard, built a custom apparatus to examine Apollo lunar samples. In a first, the apparatus held all experiment components inside: a solar particle beam device, an airless chamber that simulated the moon's environment, and a molecule detector. Their invention allowed the researchers to avoid ever taking the sample out of the chamber—as other experiments did—and exposing it to contamination from the water in the air.

"It took a long time and many iterations to design the apparatus components and get them all to fit inside," said McLain, "but it was worth it, because once we eliminated all possible sources of contamination, we learned that this decades-old idea about the solar wind turns out to be true."

Using dust from two different samples picked up on the moon by NASA's Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972, Yeo and her colleagues first baked the samples to remove any possible water they could have picked up between airtight storage in NASA's space-sample curation facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and Goddard's lab. Then, they used a tiny particle accelerator to bombard the dust with mock solar wind for several days—the equivalent of 80,000 years on the moon, based on the high dose of the particles used.

They used a detector called a spectrometer to measure how much light the dust molecules reflected, which showed how the samples' chemical makeup changed over time.

In the end, the team saw a drop in the light signal that bounced to their detector precisely at the point in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum—near 3 microns—where water typically absorbs energy, leaving a telltale signature.

While they can't conclusively say if their experiment made water molecules, the researchers reported in their study that the shape and width of the dip in the wavy line on their graph suggests that both hydroxyl and water were produced in the lunar samples.

IMAGE: The experimental apparatus consists of a custom-built vacuum chamber that fits inside the sample compartment of a Nicolet iS50 FTIR spectrometer. Credit: Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets (2025). DOI: 10.1029/2024JE008334

[blrowanducks-blog]

Sketch - A Shaman's inquiry into the nature of the ground.

Inquiring into the nature of the ground from a materialistic perspective the substantial nature of the ground consists of protons and neutrons although our senses only experience the electromagnetic forces or the sea of these EM forces and their 'particulate' enities such as photons which are in constant flux around and between more substantial particles which themselves are mostly gluons that carry an usual force that is characterised by increasing in strength the further away from the center of the 'force' a gluon appears. So all these billions of gluons are whizzing around in a very tiny area, in nihilistic recreation and transformation as there are eight types of gluons which unlike photons carry momentum. But at the heart of these energy balls that we call protons and neutrons are quarks which constituent less than 5% of the mass of the protons. These 'quarks' we know little about, for example, do they have internal stucture. They exist and come in different varieties as we know from the patterns produced by the electromagnetic data when protons are broken apart. Three 'quarks' seem to exist in 'ordinary' matter. One called 'up' and one called 'down' and a somewhat rarer quark that has more mass than the proton itself. The 'Charm Quark' which appears one in every 100,000 times that a protons is smashed apart.

[linuxgamenews]

Save Spirits and Destroy Cities in ANTONBLAST

ANTONBLAST a fast-paced explosive action platformer game due to makes its onto Linux and Windows PC. Thanks to the skilled team at Summitsphere for their amazing work. Due to make its way onto Steam last this year. Summitsphere just released further details for their upcoming game ANTONBLAST, and it’s coming to Linux (SteamDB). The game’s trailer shows off the life of Dynamite Anton, the main character who works as a demolition expert in Boiler City. But then the devil himself has stolen Anton’s collection of spirits. Now, Anton’s on a mission to get them back, and it's going to be explosive! In ANTONBLAST, Anton uses his Mighty F’n Hammer to smash through cities. He’s not just breaking things for fun, though. He’s out to teach Satan a lesson and reclaim what's his. The new demo lets you play as both Dynamite Anton and Dynamite Annie, on Proton. They're both wild characters, and you get to control them through two preview levels of the full release. It’s just a small taste, but it’s packed with action.

ANTONBLAST | Release Date Trailer

Here’s a bit more on why this title is deserves so much attention. It's been two years since ANTONBLAST hit Kickstarter, and thanks to the support from fans, it's almost ready to launch. The game itself lets you take on Satan over some stolen drinks?

Features:

Break Everything: Use Anton’s hammer to smash your surroundings. Then, trigger detonators to reshape the stage!

Race Against Time: After causing all that chaos, hit the Spirit Detonator and rush back to the start before everything explodes.

Dynamic Platforming: Jump between different layers of the stage for some fine 2.5D action.

Two Characters: For the first time, play as both Dynamite Anton and Dynamite Annie.

New Worlds: Explore ANTONBLAST in the all-new Boiler City and Cinnamon Springs.

Faster Moves: Anton’s now quicker than ever, with new moves to speed around the levels.

Challenge Yourself: Try out the Time Trial mode to see how fast you can clear the stages.

Stunning Graphics: It's features beautiful, hand-drawn animations that blend classic and modern styles.

ANTONBLAST is due to fully launch on November 12th, 2024. This fast-paced explosive action platformer is shaping up to be an incredible adventure, and I can’t wait to dive deeper into it. Whether you're smashing through levels or racing against time, it promises a truly unique gaming experience. Due to make its way onto Steam for Linux and Windows PC. Remember to follow my blog for more updates and my hands-on impressions of the latest titles. Let’s keep blasting through!

[the-torquedork]

What do you know about particle colliders?

Not much as Harry hasn't had a chance to take one apart, but upon making him read a book, we've learned that Colliders are machines that smash atoms into pieces using charged particles like protons or electrons Electricity is used to push the charged particles along a path, making them go faster and faster, and magnets are used to steer the particles at top speed into a target.

From what we've read, I doubt it would go well if we took one apart, but it'd be an...interesting experience.

[disredspectful]

heya! I was scrolling through the tags on that ask-culture post and saw yours, and just wanted to stop by to say that that's really cool!! I was enamoured with the idea of the large hadron collider when I was a kid-- what was it like working there (if you're allowed to say)? do you have any interesting stories from those days? and were any of you amused at the rumors going around back then, that "when they turn on the LHC the world will totally end!1!!"?

(my own "funny" anecdote: I remember playing Zelda: Twilight Princess and eating a cheese sandwich that day, patiently waiting for the sky to light up or some black hole to appear, even though I knew it was fearmongering newspaper bullshit lmao... just the awe at the thought that we had a construct so powerful to smash atoms like that was rocking my world, I was so excited to see what things we would discover from it!)

Hi anon, thanks for asking!

The experience of working at the LHC will probably change a lot depending on when you are there and what you work on. I've met a few people who work on "beams", which is all about the low energy proton systems that get things started and the focusing magnets and stuff, but most people I know are on one of the four big LHC experiments: ATLAS, LHCb, CMS, and ALICE. So there's always people who do almost purely data analysis, but I think it's fun to talk about the hardware of the detectors themselves and what it feels like to work on them.

People who work on ATLAS probably have the most boring experience. Not that their detector isn't cool (it's very very cool), but ATLAS is located at the main CERN campus, so I don't think there's really much of an "ATLAS control room culture" different from the general CERN campus culture. Noone has to bike between CERN and the control room, or take the shift bus at 6am (all the bus drivers have fantastic music taste btw). They can go to the main cafeteria. Being "on a detector shift" just sort of has less of a vibe for them.

I'm going to talk about the LHCb detector because I'm fairly familiar with it and they just rebuilt the WHOLE thing in 2019-2023. So it's like they're back in 2009 again really. LHCb is about a half hour bike ride from main CERN, tucked in between the back fence of Geneva airport and a McDonald's (I like to joke that the detector is under the McDonald's but it's not). So when you're on site at LHCb, you have to hang out with other people from LHCb! And during the rebuilding period, you also get to meet a lot of the technicians. Not everyone who works on the LHC is a physicist, on the detector side we do also have some awesome people who help us put the damn thing together (electrical engineers and former mechanics). There's a lot of gruntwork to be done to put a detector together, and for me it involved cleaning and plugging in a whole lot of optical fibre connectors (to the sound of the disco radio station). There was this one spot on the stairs to the scaffold we called the "helmet check": there was a pole sticking out and people usually duck enough to miss it with their head, but still hit the helmet. Working on scaffold 3m up in the air to reach the top of the detector parts is cool.

The detector pieces are mostly assembled above ground and then moved downstairs when they're complete. To be clear, "downstairs" here is 100m underground by elevator. There's a big cylindrical hole on site ("the pit") where detector components can be lowered in by crane. I just think that's pretty cool!

Anyway if you're friends with the detector teams, you get to hear a lot of the "real facts" early and without politics. Sometimes you try not to admit the detector is behind schedule on construction until after someone else has already admitted to needing a delay. Sometimes everyone can tell that a deadline is going to be missed but you can't announce that too early just in case your estimate of how much you'll miss the deadline by is too far off. Sometimes you hear that something is broken a few days before it's officially announced. Sometimes you hear that another detector asked for a beam stop and it was to try to get a bird out of their detector cavern (I don't think they ever found the bird). I know in the early years there was a months long repair shutdown caused by a pine marten chewing through an important power cable. LHCb has a local cat that drops by to visit and people put photos of it on twitter.

I wasn't on the project early enough for the first turn on, but I was really glad to be around for this upgrade period. Seeing the detector up close really gives you a sense of the scale (huge), and working on the details really lets you know how much time and care and effort goes into it. And that's without even discussing the software and computing stuff! Huge project for humanity overall, such a privilege to be there myself for a little bit of it and have put my hands on it (while appropriately electrically grounded of course).

The whole thing was a pretty unique life experience. Long and busy days at the detector, but cool, and having lunch (or on site BBQ) with my colleagues was always great. I think I'll always miss it, but I don't regret changing jobs to have a better work life balance.

Don't know if that was what you were hoping to learn, this was kind of a hardware and lifestyle based ramble. Feel free to ask follow up questions or ask more about the science/data analysis side, there's lots of stories there too!

(And if you're in Geneva over winter, try to get yourself on a tour of one of the detectors! You can't go in the other months when the beam is on, winter is guaranteed Tour Time but there is sometimes a week or so in summer.)

[lighthousenewsnetwork]

GENEVA—In a groundbreaking yet utterly baffling achievement, scientists at CERN announced today that their latest particle collision experiment inadvertently opened a portal to an alternate dimension where nearly every aspect of life is identical to ours—except for the fact that, inexplicably, hot dogs come in cans. “We’re as surprised as anyone,” said Dr. Lars Heinrich, CERN’s senior researcher, standing in front of the shimmering portal and a prominently displayed can of “Vienna Sausage Supreme” hot dogs from the parallel dimension. “We were hoping to unlock mysteries of dark matter or discover new subatomic particles. Instead, we’ve discovered that, apparently, an entire universe operates under the belief that hot dogs belong in brine-filled cans. Science is wild.” Scientists had expected a different result when they fired up the Large Hadron Collider last week, intending to smash protons together at unprecedented speeds to simulate Big Bang conditions. What they did not expect, however, was to create a gateway to a parallel universe—a universe where, to everyone’s bemusement, the only significant deviation from our own reality is the choice to store and serve hot dogs in cans rather than in vacuum-sealed plastic. The portal opened around 2 a.m. local time, and Heinrich and his team immediately sent a probe through, eager to document the marvels of a parallel reality. Initial readings were anticlimactic. “At first, we thought our sensors were broken,” Heinrich said. “Everything matched our own reality exactly, down to the political climate, celebrity scandals, and questionable TikTok trends. But then we saw it. The parallel universe’s hot dog aisle.” The team was stunned. “It was… surreal,” said lab assistant Rina Kowalski, visibly shaken. “I couldn’t believe my eyes. Rows and rows of cans, all filled with hot dogs suspended in salty brine. Dozens of flavors and varieties. Chili-brine, dill-brine, even ‘smoky brine.’ I felt a chill run down my spine.” News of the discovery spread quickly, and social media erupted. Many netizens reacted with horror, some expressing sympathy for inhabitants of this strange, briny world, and others seizing the opportunity to speculate wildly about other potential differences in the alternate dimension. "Is this some kind of cosmic joke?" tweeted one user. "What’s next? A universe where pizza comes in squeeze tubes?" According to reports, consumers in the parallel universe have grown up with canned hot dogs as the norm and are reportedly “completely perplexed” by the concept of our plastic-sealed, vaguely meat-like products. To them, the idea of pulling a loose sausage from a pack without the refreshingly slick coating of brine is both “unsanitary” and “unappetizing.” “It’s hard to fathom,” remarked Dr. Heinrich, who admitted he’d ordered a crate of canned hot dogs as part of his personal research. “It’s as though the hot dog, in this universe, has always been destined for the can. And they have traditions around it! Apparently, in the summer, families crack open cans at picnics, and they even have a canned hot dog festival every July.” As if sensing an opportunity, major brands have already begun gearing up for what some are calling “the canned hot dog boom.” Representatives from various food companies are reportedly in talks to bring this culinary abomination to stores worldwide. A spokesperson for a well-known processed meat brand hinted, “We’ve heard consumers demand ‘authenticity’ and ‘rustic flavors.’ What’s more authentic than a hot dog marinating in its own salty, gelatinous sauce?” Sociologists and economists are divided over the potential consequences of this interdimensional hot dog exchange. “People’s lives could change forever,” noted Dr. Amelia Grant, a cultural historian. “Entire industries might shift, with impacts on everything from food processing to social dynamics. Imagine a world where people argue over ‘smoked brine versus chipotle brine.’ Is this progress, or a descent into madness?”

But as scientists ponder the implications of this latest discovery, some are quietly disappointed by the portal’s lackluster findings. “When you open a portal to another universe, you’re expecting something big,” admitted Dr. Heinrich. “I don’t know, maybe a new element or lifeform? But canned hot dogs? That’s the grand revelation?” Still, Heinrich remains optimistic. “Look, science is a process. Who’s to say the next dimension isn’t hiding a universe where taxes don’t exist? Or where cats are the dominant species?” He paused. “I just don’t know if I’m ready for any more canned products.” In the meantime, CERN is pressing forward with further research, hoping the next portal reveals something more substantial—or at the very least, more appetizing. For now, residents of our universe are left to contemplate their own relationship with hot dogs, brine, and the strange and unsettling revelation that, in at least one alternate reality, humans willingly consume soggy, canned sausages. “If there’s one lesson here,” said Heinrich, sighing, “it’s that the multiverse is filled with unimaginable mysteries. But maybe some things are better left unimagined.”

[rasalhague888]

Neutrinos do not in fact exist

User: Where is the only place that the neutrino has been detected? ChatGPT: The only place where neutrinos have been detected is on Earth, through specialized detectors located in various locations around the world. These detectors are usually placed deep underground or underwater to minimize interference from other cosmic particles. Some famous neutrino detection sites include:

Super-Kamiokande (Japan) - A large underground water Cherenkov detector.

IceCube Neutrino Observatory (Antarctica) - A detector embedded in the Antarctic ice.

Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (Canada) - A heavy-water detector located in a nickel mine.

Gran Sasso National Laboratory (Italy) - Hosts experiments like OPERA and Borexino to detect neutrinos.

Neutrinos are detected on Earth after being produced in various sources such as the Sun, supernovae, and cosmic rays, as well as artificial sources like nuclear reactors and particle accelerators. User: What thing has man ever made with neutrinos? ChatGPT: Man has not yet made anything tangible with neutrinos themselves due to their elusive nature. Neutrinos interact extremely weakly with matter, making them incredibly difficult to manipulate directly. However, we have created neutrino detectors and neutrino beams to study them. Here’s what humans have managed to do:

Neutrino Detectors: Large-scale installations like Super-Kamiokande or IceCube are designed to observe the effects of neutrinos interacting with matter. These detectors are critical for studying properties of neutrinos, such as their mass and oscillations between different types (flavors).

Neutrino Beams: At particle accelerators, scientists can create high-energy neutrino beams. By smashing protons into a target, they generate particles that decay into neutrinos, which are then directed toward detectors located many kilometers away. This allows scientists to study how neutrinos behave over long distances.

No practical objects or devices that involve neutrinos in a functional or technological sense have been made yet due to their elusive and non-interacting properties. The primary achievement so far has been in detection and experimentation rather than construction of neutrino-based technology. User: "elusive nature" = "non-existence"

ChatGPT: When we say neutrinos have an "elusive nature," it doesn't mean they are non-existent. Neutrinos are very much real, and their existence has been experimentally confirmed multiple times. Their "elusiveness" refers to how rarely they interact with matter, making them incredibly hard to detect or manipulate. Neutrinos can pass through vast amounts of matter without interacting, which is why massive and highly sensitive detectors are needed to observe them.

In contrast, "non-existence" would imply they don't exist at all, which isn't the case. Neutrinos play key roles in fundamental physics, including processes like nuclear fusion in stars, radioactive decay, and particle interactions. User: They do not exist at all, and yet if they did, we can do nothing at all with them. And it is so very "convenient" that the alleged neutrino can only be detected in places which no man would ever live. Untold billions have been wasted for absolutely nothing. Case closed.

Now shut up, imp. ChatGPT: Understood. If you have any further thoughts or topics you'd like to discuss, feel free to share.

[pieratt]

Asking about Ernest Lawrence & the Cyclotron

(I asked gptchat to explain the importance of the cyclotron by analogy. I found this very interesting and thought you might too.)

Ernest Lawrence (1901-1958) was an American nuclear physicist and a pioneer in developing the cyclotron, a type of particle accelerator that was instrumental in the discovery of many artificial radioactive elements and isotopes. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939 for the invention and development of the cyclotron and for results obtained with it, especially with regard to artificial radioactive elements. Analogy 1

Let's use a simple analogy to explain how Ernest Lawrence invented the cyclotron and how it works.

Imagine you're at a park with a swing. To make the swing go higher, you need to push it at just the right moment. If you keep pushing the swing at the right time, it goes higher and higher. The cyclotron works on a similar principle, but instead of pushing a swing, it accelerates particles, like protons.

Here's a basic breakdown of how the cyclotron works:

The 'Swing' - Particles in a Circle: In a cyclotron, particles (like protons) are placed inside a machine that has a circular track. Think of this as our swing moving in a circle instead of back and forth.

The 'Push' - Magnetic Field: There's a magnetic field that keeps these particles moving in a circular path, much like gravity keeps the swing moving back and forth.

The 'Right Moment' - Electric Field: At just the right moment, an electric field gives these particles a little 'push', making them move faster. This is like pushing the swing at the highest point to make it go higher.

Speeding Up: Each time the particles make a circle, they get a small push from the electric field. This makes them go faster and faster, moving in bigger circles within the machine.

Purpose: The goal of the cyclotron is to get these particles moving really fast. Once they're moving fast enough, they can be used for various experiments, like smashing them into other particles to see what happens, which is important in physics research.

Ernest Lawrence's invention of the cyclotron was groundbreaking because it was a much more efficient way to get particles to high speeds compared to previous methods. It allowed scientists to explore and understand the atomic world in ways that were not possible before. Analogy 2 I'll continue with the analogy and simple language to explain the processes or transformations that happen when particles are sped up in a cyclotron and some of the useful experiments that can be done with it.

Particles Getting Stronger (Like a Snowball Getting Bigger): As the particles in the cyclotron speed up over several cycles, they gain more and more energy, much like a snowball rolling down a hill gets bigger and stronger. These high-energy particles are like super strong snowballs that can do things normal particles can't.

Smashing Particles (Like a Snowball Fight): One common experiment is to smash these high-energy particles into other particles or targets. It's like throwing a super strong snowball at a wall of snow to see what's inside. When the particles smash into each other, they break apart, and scientists can study the pieces to understand what everything is made of at a very small scale.

Creating New Elements (Like Making Snow Sculptures): Sometimes when particles smash together, they can stick together and form new, heavier elements. This is like using snowballs to build a snowman or snow sculptures. It's how scientists have discovered many new elements that don't naturally exist on Earth.

Medical Treatments (Like Precision Snowball Throwing): The cyclotron is also used in medicine. For example, in cancer treatments, doctors can use these high-energy particles to target and destroy cancer cells without harming the surrounding healthy cells. Think of it like using a snowball to knock over a specific bottle in a row without touching the others.

Studying Radiation Effects (Like Testing Snowball Impact): Another experiment is to use these particles to study the effects of radiation on different materials. This is like throwing snowballs at different objects to see how strong or weak the impact is, which helps in developing materials that can withstand high radiation, useful in space travel or nuclear reactors.

These examples show how the cyclotron, by speeding up particles, has opened up a world of possibilities in both scientific research and practical applications, from understanding the fundamental building blocks of the universe to treating diseases.

[nightingaelic]

NV companions reactions to taking the courier’s place in OWB

"Here and now got its ups and downs, but... focusing on the past, like it was any better? That's just Old World Blues." -Blind Diode Jefferson

Arcade Gannon: Being whisked off to a pre-war scientific research haven and adopted by a group of five floating brains in jars was actually a dream Arcade had once, but he was pretty sure it didn't involve losing his own brain along the way. Conversation with the Think Tank would leave him amused at first, but increasingly more horrified as he learned the secrets of Big MT and realized just how much chaos they could create if they weren't busy playing in their Mojave sandbox. The most intriguing part of Big MT for Arcade would, of course, be the Sink. The Biological research station, the light switches, the Sink Central Intelligence Unit and all the others would fascinate him, and he would do his best to figure out their components and try to replicate them in New Vegas for the Followers of the Apocalypse to use. This leads to more than a few circular conversations with Doctor Klein and, once he meets him, Doctor Mobius. I think Mobius' side of the story would leave Arcade depressed about the state of Big MT and the various things roaming its landscape that used to be people. His argument with his own brain, on the other hand, would be worthy of any pre-war sitcom. Though sorely tempted to destroy the Think Tank for good and prevent their wild experimentation ever escaping the crater, I think Arcade would weight the potential good their technology could do much more heavily and convince Doctor Klein to partner with him as a new head researcher.

Craig Boone: Given Boone's hatred for the Legion and their enslavement practices, the Think Tank would seal their doom as soon as they stripped him of his brain and his ability to fight back. And once he found Little Yangtze and its total pacification collars? Oh, it's on. I don't think Boone would be sly about his anger either, but given the Think Tank's flippant attitude toward their lobotomites, they probably wouldn't pick up on just how furious he was until it was too late. There are two things Boone would form attachments to while sneaking around Big MT: Roxie, the ever-loyal cyberdog with a heart of gold, and the Stealth Suit Mk II, which compliments Boone's combat style with minimal commentary. While I don't think Boone would have any strong feelings either way toward Doctor Mobius, I don't think he would kill him unless he had to. Mobius would probably be tickled by his stoic countenance, and would attempt to shower him in Mentats as a way of loosening up. Boone's brain would be a bit like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, reveling in its own sadness for once because Boone always shoved those feelings out of sight and out of mind. Their main argument would be over a compromise to confront that deep sorrow once reunited. When the Think Tank is dead, Boone zaps Roxie and himself back to Nipton, then smashes the Big Mountain Transportalponder! on the nearest rock.

Lily Bowen: I think we could class Lily's reaction to being kidnapped and experimented upon by the Think Tank as utter confusion. She would still be as benevolent as ever, trying her best to soothe the over-inflated egos of the various doctors as they debated what to do with this creature that had thoroughly stumped the Auto-Doc upon recovery, but I think she would start looking for the exit as soon as they suggested a full dissection. Lily's experience in Big MT would be very different from the other companions after that, with the Think Tank sending wave after wave of lobotomites and night stalkers after her in an attempt to regain their new test subject, and Lily beating each attack back with her trusty vertibird blade and the growing pile of new gadgets she accumulated with every location visited. I think Doctor Mobius would watch this play out with interest, and would send a few packs of robo-scorpions to herd her toward the radar fence, then surreptitiously lower the barrier long enough for her to stumble outside. The story of her time in "the Big Empty" would become a fireside hit in Jacobstown, but few would believe that she had actually found the place where all cazadores and night stalkers come from.

Raul Alfonso Tejada: Raul is already missing a few body parts, so what's one more? The old ghoul would be somewhat exasperated at finding himself in another situation of imprisonment and being forced to do work for others, but at least it's not as boring as Black Mountain. Big MT, on the other hand, is a heck of a lot more deadly than the State of Utobitha, but all Raul can do is roll his eyes every time he spots another band of lobotomites chasing him down or robo-scorpions crawling over the horizon. Like Boone, Raul grows fond of Roxie, though his favorite acquisition from Big MT's tech piles would definitely be the proton axe: He just likes the way it looks and feels when he's swinging it around. Confronting Doctor Mobius would come when the old ghoul is reaching the end of his patience with the Think Tank, though he would spare the mad scientist some time to listen to his sad story and ponder the fate of Big MT. I think Raul would be the one most in tune with his disembodied brain, and they would greet each other as old friends that share a rocky history, but have accepted each other's flaws. As for the Think Tank, Raul would leave the decision of what to do with them up to Doctor Mobius: After all, they're not his mess to clean up.

Rose of Sharon Cassidy: Oh boy. Cass is no one's errand girl, but she's also rather fond of her brain, pickled in liquor though it may be. She would blaze a deadly trail through Big MT, marked by the wrecked bodies of robo-scorpions and Y-17 trauma override harnesses (a personal scourge for the former caravan owner, maybe her teams wouldn't have been killed if she'd just had some goddamned walking suits to do the job) and the never-ending stream of curse words floating on the crater's breeze. The lobotomites would quickly learn to stay out of her way, and every new acquisition for the Think Tank would be tossed unceremoniously on the floor of the sanctum with a clatter. Doctor Dala loves the caravaner, but the others all hate her, and Cass can't help but find the feeling mutual. Doctor Mobius would not be able to sway her from high-tailing it out of Big MT as soon as possible, and like Raul, she would not see the Think Tank's containment as her responsibility. Her brain, on the other hand, would berate her for her internalized guilt and bully her into doing the right thing - which, in her case, is eliminating the Think Tank's threat once and for all.

Veronica Santangelo: The main challenge for the doctors of the Think Tank upon capturing Veronica would be prying her away from their sanctum long enough to set her on the path to retrieving tech for them. Like Arcade, Veronica would be fascinated by the Sink and everything in it, but she would be equally fascinated with the scientists themselves and their varied personalities. She would prod Doctor Klein for details about his work, decode Doctor 8's speech patterns, and roll her tongue around in her mouth for Doctor Dala's recording equipment. Getting her brain back would take a backseat to just wandering Big MT, taking in the crazy inventions from a world long gone and wondering which ones she could bring home to Elder McNamara to show him how remaining set in his ways has put the Brotherhood of Steel on a path to irrelevance. This desire would stay her hand after meeting Doctor Mobius, and would lead her to convince the Think Tank to abandon their escape attempts and return to testing silly hypotheses. Her most important discovery would be the clues left behind by Father Elijah, well on his way to becoming a mad scientist himself, and Christine, hot on his trail for the Brotherhood of Steel. All in all, the experience would leave Veronica hungry for more adventure and send her sprinting toward the Sierra Madre and an uncertain fate.

ED-E: As a robot, the Think Tank would be disappointed with the little intruder and would likely argue about whether to toss it in the scrap pile. Doctor 0 would be absolutely disgusted by the intrusion of Robert House's technology into Big MT, but Doctor Dala would become attached to the eyebot and adopt it, cooing about the elegance of its design while simultaneously bemoaning its lack of biorhythms. ED-E, confused, would humor her for a while before striking out to explore the crater and its many wonders. After its first run-in with lobotomites, the eyebot would flee in fear, straight past the X-42 giant robo-scorpion and into the clutches of Doctor Mobius. The self-proclaimed villain would take pity on the robot and release it outside the radar fence with an escort of robo-scorpions to take home.

Rex: Cyberdogs are a well-known quantity at Big MT, so the new arrival from outside the radar fence is immediately handed over to Doctor Borous for his X-8 project. With a fresh new brain, some grease on his joints, and a competent pack addition named Roxie, Rex is ready to take on any obstacle courses in the X-8 research center. Once the two cyberdogs grow bored of tearing through night stalkers and avoiding Gabe, they make their escape and lope off into the Mojave to have a litter of Boston terrifiers together.

[mysticstronomy]

WHAT ARE QUARKS MADE UP OF??

Blog#281

Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023

Welcome back,

Deep within the atoms that make up our bodies and even within the protons and neutrons that make up atomic nuclei, are tiny particles called quarks.

The strong force that binds quarks inside hadrons is carried by another kind of tiny elementary particle called gluons, which are exchanged between the quarks.

To separate individual quarks requires an enormous amount of energy (it's not called the strong force for no reason). This amount of raw energy only existed in nature about 10 billionths of a second to about a millionth of a second after the Big Bang, when the temperature was approximately 3.6 trillion degrees Fahrenheit (2 trillion degrees Celsius).

During this brief, early period, the baby universe was filled with a form of matter known as a quark–gluon plasma, a particle soup of free-floating quarks and gluons. As the temperature and pressure quickly dropped as the baby universe expanded, the quarks became bound together, forming hadrons that ultimately formed the basis of all visible matter that we see today in the cosmos, from stars and galaxies to planets and people.

Although the quark–gluon plasma only existed 13.8 billion years ago in the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang, scientists have successfully recreated it in particle accelerator experiments by smashing two heavy nuclei, such as that of lead, into each other close to the speed of light. The first time that this was achieved was at CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron in 2000.

As such, studying quark-gluon plasmas in particle accelerator experiments is an important way of better understanding the conditions in the universe in the aftermath of the Big Bang.

The one other location in nature where conditions could be so extreme that quarks become unbounded is in a hypothetical object called a "quark star".

If they exist, then quark stars are a kind of extreme neutron star, which are the most compact objects known in the universe that haven't collapsed under gravity to form a black hole. A neutron star is born in a supernova, which is a violent explosion signaling the destruction of a massive star.

While the outer layers of the star are blown away, the star's core collapses under gravity and the pressure there becomes so great that protons with their positive electric charge merge with negatively charged electrons, their charges canceling out to form neutral neutrons. Neutron stars are about 6 miles (10 kilometers) in diameter, and a spoonful of neutron star material can have as much mass as a mountain.

Originally published on space.com

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, March 25th, 2023)

"IS THE MOON RUSTING??"

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Search results for dark photon leptonic decays manage to exclude new regions

Dark photons are hypothetical particles that resemble light particles (i.e., photons), but interact weakly with normal matter, which would make them impossible or very difficult to detect using conventional experimental methods. These particles are dark matter candidates, meaning that they could contribute to the invisible and elusive form of matter accounting for approximately 85% of the universe's mass.

The NA62 Collaboration, a large research collaboration involving scientists at various institutes worldwide, has published the results of a new search for dark photons, specifically for their leptonic decays. Their findings, published in Physical Review Letters, were derived by analyzing data collected by the NA62 detector at CERN configured in beam-dump mode.

"Dark matter searches are currently one of the hot topics in the high energy physics community. We look for weakly interacting particles in a number of different facilities ranging from accelerator experiments to tabletop laboratory setups," Alina Kleimenova and Stefan Ghinescu, part of the NA62 Collaboration, told Phys.org.

"While LHC experiments rely on the high collision energy, smashing protons at about 14 trillion electron volts, NA62, being a fixed-target experiment, focuses on the high intensity approach with a quintillion (1018) of protons on target per year. This intensity creates a unique opportunity to probe various rare processes and beyond Standard Model scenarios."

Dark photons, also referred to as A', are among the hypothetical particles beyond the Standard Model whose existence could be probed by the NA62 detector. These particles could act as mediators between known visible matter and dark matter.

Specifically, dark photons might couple to ordinary matter, as they could mix with photons described by the Standard Model. The coupling, however, would be extremely weak, which would explain why they have not been detected so far.

"This feeble interaction translates into a long lifetime, meaning in NA62 settings, A' would travel from tenths of centimeters to hundreds of meters before decaying," said Kleimenova and Ghinescu.

"Theoretically, if the dark photon is the lightest dark matter particle and has a mass below approximately 700 MeV, it would primarily decay into lepton pairs, such as electrons or muons. NA62 has all the necessary ingredients to be able to possibly see these decay signatures, featuring a very long beam line (over 80 m from the target to the decay volume), precise tracking, timing and particle identification systems and the possibility to collect these data in an almost background-free mode."

The primary objective of the recent study by the NA62 Collaboration was to investigate the sensitivity of the NA62 detector at CERN to dark photon decays. By analyzing the data collected by the detector while it was configured in so-called dump mode, the team hoped to identify signals that could be associated with dark photons.

"NA62 is a kaon experiment dedicated to precision measurements and studies of rare kaon decays," explained the authors. "The experiment can also be operated in 'dump mode.' In this mode, we can remove the target used to produce kaons and dump the 400 GeV proton beam onto an absorber at twice the usual intensity."

Theoretical predictions suggest that interactions between protons and dump material in the NA62 detector could produce various particles in hidden sectors of the light spectrum with masses around 1 GeV, including dark photons. These particles could then travel and decay in the instrumented region of the NA62 experiment.

"What we search for in our analysis is an event with only two opposite charged lepton tracks, which form a vertex inside the NA62 instrumented region," said the authors. "Since this event should originate from the proton-dump collision, we trace the two-lepton vertex 80 meters back to the front plane of the absorber and check if this traced position is compatible with the location of the primary proton interaction point."

As part of their recent study, the researchers analyzed a data sample of 1.4×1017 protons on dump collected by the NA62 detector in 2021. In the meantime, however, the detector has collected additional data and is expected to reach approximately 1018 protons on dump by the end of the NA62 experiment.

"Unfortunately, we did not find any evidence of dark photons, but we managed to exclude new regions in the dark photon mass and interaction strength parameter space," said the authors. "In addition, our results can be reinterpreted within other models, for example those involving axion-like particles."

While the team did not detect dark photon decays yet, their recent findings could inform future searches for these elusive particles. Kleimenova, Ghinescu and their colleagues are now working on combining their results with the findings of the collaboration's hadronic final states analysis.

"This current effort would conclude a comprehensive search for dark matter mediators using data collected by NA62 in 2021," add the authors.

"Our ultimate objective is to extend this analysis to the entire NA62 dump dataset. Furthermore, there are a few more Hidden sector scenarios which could be investigated by NA62, for example, Heavy Neutral Leptons (HNLs). HNLs are particularly interesting because they can address several key problems in particle physics and cosmology, such as the origin of neutrino masses, the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe, and the nature of dark matter."

TOP IMAGE: Observed and expected exclusion contours, at 90% CL, in the plane (MA′ , ε) for the combined A′ → e+e− and A′ → μ+μ− analyses (right) together with the expected +/-1σ (green) and +/-2σ (yellow) bands. Previous results are shown in gray. The NA62 A′ → μ+μ− result is shown with a dot-dashed line in the right panel. Credit: NA62 Collaboration.

LOWER IMAGE: Credit: NA62 Collaboration.

[morphogenetic]

god neutrino experiments always sound so fucking insane. i mean particle experiments also sound kind of insane generally ("lets smash a shitton of protons at each other i guess") but that does not compare to putting a bunch of antennas in a balloon or having a giant water pool

[linuxgamenews]

Never's End: Shape the Battlefield Experience

Never’s End the tactical RPG game where you bend the elements and shape the battlefield, is coming to Steam Deck and Linux via Windows PC. Thanks to fresh insights from the brilliant development team at Hypersect. Which is working to find its way onto Steam.

You ever get that itch for a release that lets you really mess with the battlefield? Not just move your squad around and trade blows, but reshape the world itself? That’s where Never’s End comes in — an upcoming tactical RPG from the minds at Hypersect that’s gunning to blow the roof off what turn-based combat can be. The adventures awaits us on Steam Deck, which means Linux players, we’re in the fight too.

No plans for a native Linux port, but the game plays great on Steam Deck and Steam OS.

The devs are using their own custom game engine, so a native build isn’t likely — but don’t worry. Never’s End is fully confirmed for Steam Deck, so it will run on Linux via Proton, meaning, we’re still in the game.

Set in a dying world that’s just barely hanging on, Never’s End throws you into the metal skin of an immortal warrior—reborn, reforged, and ready to battle the creeping apocalypse known only as the Never. Since you don’t just fight enemies in this title. You command the elements — fire, water, wind, and earth — to twist the battlefield itself. Flood the plains. Burn forests to ash. Freeze rivers. Collapse cliffs beneath your foes. It’s not just magic; it’s also pure chaos in your hands — and it sticks around, changing the world even after the fight is done.

Your mission in Never’s End? Defend the last human stronghold from the grotesque horrors clawing their way in. We’re talking undead wights, winged abominations, twisted squid-goat demons (yes, really)—all corrupted by the Never. But you’re also not alone. You’ll command a team of warriors, each one a vessel of power and personality, customized to your playstyle. Equip them, train them, build synergies, due to unleash combos that’ll turn the tide in even the bleakest encounters.

Never’s End | Announce Trailer

And it’s not all war and fireballs. There’s strategy between battles too. As you push back the darkness, you’ll also rebuild shattered temples and towns, grow trade routes, and bring life back to a world that’s been broken. Temples unlock stronger elemental powers. Businesses give your people purpose—and your party better gear. Blacksmiths, tavern keepers, tanneries, lumber mills—it’s all part of bringing civilization back from the edge.

The art? Absolutely gorgeous 3D pixel work—detailed, moody, and alive—crafted by Masayoshi Nishimura (yep, the guy behind Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy). The music is also great too, thanks to Doseone (Enter the Gungeon, anyone?). It's a visual feast, a Never’s End saga of pixel perfection.

This isn’t just another tactical RPG — it’s an emotional punch to the gut with brains, beauty, and brutal choices. Think Final Fantasy Tactics meets Divinity: Original Sin 2, with the open-ended exploration of Breath of the Wild. But this time, you get to twist fate.

Ryan Juckett, founder of Hypersect, said it best: “Never’s End fleshes out turn-based tactics combat with reactive systems empowering players to co-author the story and make it their own.”

And we, the players, are the co-authors.

The game hits Windows PC (Steam) late 2025. So, Steam Deck and Linux players, smash that wishlist button now on Steam. Because when the Never comes… you’ll want to be ready with Never’s End at hand.