Large Hardon Collider

[Kaylia]

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/gene...le_revolution_

Don't break symmetry please...shit is hard enough already, the last thing we need is more properties and forces

Neutrinos, dawg, how do they work?

edit: No, seriously, how do they work? Someone explain this stuff to me

If you want a long answer, read wiki. I can't do better.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrino

If you're looking for a short answer, neutrinos are particles that naturally arise in nuclear physics when you're balancing equations to preserve the differents properties (mass, spin, momentum). Basically, they are additional entries in the nuclear periodic table to fill up the gap.

ex:
Hydrogen(Proton + electron) x2 = deuterium(proto/neutron/electron) + positron + neutrino (hydrogen fusion)
neutron = proton + electron +antineutrino (same as above, except it was flipped around).

The equation above are for the "electron neutrino", and you generally find them when a electron/positron is created/destroyed. The other 2 neutrino are the "tau neutrino" and "muon neutrino", and will appears in similar situation. Essentially, that's what they are.


[edit]
I should mention that we observed 10-15 years ago that neutrinos constantly oscillate between all 3 type (electron, muon, tau). It's an important bit of information that future models will have to deal with when they attempt an explantion for the mass.

[BerenTebogo]

Sath, what happened to your school credits situation? Has it been resolved yet?

Advisor came through big time for me and personally managed to enroll me in every class I needed for the fall (obviously with the caveat of a passing grade in Calc 1 for Calc 2 but as I just got my first exam back tonight and it being a 99, I'm not worried.) I'm actually very excited, not very used to having academia work FOR me instead of against me (although clearly in the past I've given it very little choice.)

Pretty much doing the lazy equivalent of pacing back and forth waiting for the fall. I can't wait for school to start so I can really get into the thick of it all, even if it's just the edge of the forest.

Decided after a talk with the advisor that I'll be taking on Astronomy as a minor at the Bach. level so I can get some time in on the observatory and get dual credit for the Astrophysics-oriented Physics electives I'll be taking in my last 3 semesters. Apparently it's going to mesh pretty well with what I already planned to take so why not.

Are you back for the summer now Woozie?

[Kuya]

Don't break symmetry please...shit is hard enough already, the last thing we need is more properties and forces




If you want a long answer, read wiki. I can't do better.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrino

If you're looking for a short answer, neutrinos are particles that naturally arise in nuclear physics when you're balancing equations to preserve the differents properties (mass, spin, momentum). Basically, they are additional entries in the nuclear periodic table to fill up the gap.

ex:
Proton + proton = proton + neutron + positron + neutrino (hydrogen fusion)
neutron = proton + electron +antineutrino (same as above, except it was flipped around).

The equation above are for the "electron neutrino", and you generally find them when a electron/positron is created/destroyed. The other 2 neutrino are the "tau neutrino" and "muon neutrino", and will appears in similar situation. Essentially, that's what they are.


[edit]
I should mention that we observed 10-15 years ago that neutrinos constantly oscillate between all 3 type (electron, muon, tau). It's an important bit of information that future models will have to deal with when they attempt an explantion for the mass.

Well, the question was bad, i meant what's the background on what the article is talking about. This "the universe for some reason has mass" and its relation to neutrons.

edit: why is the universe having mass such a problem/mistery, is what i mean

[Kryssan]

ex:
Proton + proton = proton + neutron + positron + neutrino (hydrogen fusion)
neutron = proton + electron +antineutrino (same as above, except it was flipped around)

Last time I checked, hydrogen fusion (H+H, proton with proton) makes Deuterium + positron + neutrino, not a separate proton and neutron. The second is just beta-minus decay. I agree with the short overall assessment however.

[Pirian]

I don't trust wiki so much since I saw that the explination for time dilation under Global Positioning System satilites is wrong.

[Kaylia]

I don't trust wiki so much since I saw that the explination for time dilation under Global Positioning System satilites is wrong.

I didn't see any problems with it, or am I reading the wrong section? It's way too long and vague, but not wrong...i think.

About neutrino, I read the link before posting it, and didn't see anything contradicting what I know. Fundamental physics pages are generally pretty good and trustworthy imo.

Well, the question was bad, i meant what's the background on what the article is talking about. This "the universe for some reason has mass" and its relation to neutrons.

edit: why is the universe having mass such a problem/mistery, is what i mean

Sorry. I will try again


Universe assymetry
Symmetry is always present in QM. If something can be done, it can be undone. When you create a particles out of thin air, the anti particles will be created at the same time and this fact can be observed in laboratory. However, if you look at the universe, this idea couldn't be more wrong. There is way more baryon than anti-baryon (more matter than antimatter). Is the anti matter somewhere? Was there any balance in the universe first moment, or it was created this way? Is the current QM wrong? That's why it's a mystery atm.


This study hint that neutrino might not be symmetrical to their antimatter counterpart. In other word, the symetry we assumed in QM isn't real symmetry, and a new model would be needed to explain this.That kind of model could eventually lead us to an explanation about the state of the matter in the universe.

Last time I checked, hydrogen fusion (H+H, proton with proton) makes Deuterium + positron + neutrino, not a separate proton and neutron. The second is just beta-minus decay. I agree with the short overall assessment however.

You're right, I forgot an electron on the right side.


I kept the particles separated to make it more obvious since proton+neutron+electron = deuterium. I thought it would be easier to see the balance this way.

[Max™]

I think this finding is similar to the one regarding the earlier "why is there more matter than anti-matter" article, ultimately, I'll look into it more, see if I can crankify it up for ya'll.


Seriously though, it's basically suggesting that one of the major symmetries, like, if you watch a process in a mirror, it's the same, just left/right reversed... or if you watch a process recorded backwards, it's the same, just temporally reversed, or if you reverse all the charges, it's the same as well.

Apparently if you reverse the charges, shit goes a little wonky, things zig when they should zag, possibly... still nothing exact, but it's an interesting thing to think about, and a great reason to read up more on CPT symmetries, seriously, you'll gain a MUCH richer understanding of particle physics than you currently have if you just grasp a bit about the CPT concept.

[Pirian]

I am pretty sure the numbers they gave for how large the difference in time are wrong. If they are as small as what then it wouldn't be large enough to have a precievable effect until after about 1000 years, but that's not even close to what it really is.

[Woozie]

I and most of my professors say "os-sil-lay-tors"

I've been saying "os-skil-lay-tor" all this time. My professor says I can't do that in my presentation, as if that's something I can change in 30 minutes.

Are you back for the summer now Woozie?

Not yet, but my calculations are now taking like 15~30 minutes to run, which means I actually have time to read BG (for now. That will probably change within a few days though so I'll probably disappear for another three weeks. I'll be back for good at the end of July).

Also, I think I mentioned in this thread that I was applying for a graduate assistantship for next semester. Well, I got it! I'm going to be a TA in the math department next year and my graduate tuition is going to be waived.

Edit: But on the downside, according to my contract, the physics department wont be able to pay me for research anymore. I don't plan to quit my research, so I guess I'll be working for free

[Eliseos]

I've been saying "os-skil-lay-tor" all this time. My professor says I can't do that in my presentation, as if that's something I can change in 30 minutes.

Just say it really fast and no one will notice the difference.

Also, I think I mentioned in this thread that I was applying for a graduate assistantship for next semester. Well, I got it! I'm going to be a TA in the math department next year and my graduate tuition is going to be waived.

Edit: But on the downside, according to my contract, the physics department wont be able to pay me for research anymore. I don't plan to quit my research, so I guess I'll be working for free

Grats on the TA-ship, and about not getting paid, just remember:

http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon....bblegotchu.gif

[Mizango]

Grats on the TA-ship, and about not getting paid, just remember:

http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon....bblegotchu.gif

lol

[BerenTebogo]

I've been saying "os-skil-lay-tor" all this time. My professor says I can't do that in my presentation, as if that's something I can change in 30 minutes.



Not yet, but my calculations are now taking like 15~30 minutes to run, which means I actually have time to read BG (for now. That will probably change within a few days though so I'll probably disappear for another three weeks. I'll be back for good at the end of July).

Also, I think I mentioned in this thread that I was applying for a graduate assistantship for next semester. Well, I got it! I'm going to be a TA in the math department next year and my graduate tuition is going to be waived.

Edit: But on the downside, according to my contract, the physics department wont be able to pay me for research anymore. I don't plan to quit my research, so I guess I'll be working for free

Grats! Any reason you want to take the paid math job over the paid physics job?

[Woozie]

The paid math job comes with a tuition waiver.

Edit: Also, they pay the same amount per year, but the math job I'm only working for 9 months, whereas with physics it's year round (and if you take into account the tuition remission, then the math job pays me about 7k/year more than the physics). So this means that by taking the math job, I either get a three month vacation or I can work another job for three months and make even more money than the physics job would pay.

[Eliseos]

Zap yo dumbass:

ScienceDaily (June 29, 2010) — The first experimental evidence showing how atmospheric nitrogen can be incorporated into organic macromolecules is being reported by a University of Arizona team.


The finding indicates what organic molecules might be found on Titan, the moon of Saturn that scientists think is a model for the chemistry of pre-life Earth.


Earth and Titan are the only known planetary-sized bodies that have thick, predominantly nitrogen atmospheres, said Hiroshi Imanaka, who conducted the research while a member of UA's chemistry and biochemistry department.


How complex organic molecules become nitrogenated in settings like early Earth or Titan's atmosphere is a big mystery, Imanaka said.


"Titan is so interesting because its nitrogen-dominated atmosphere and organic chemistry might give us a clue to the origin of life on our Earth," said Imanaka, now an assistant research scientist in the UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. "Nitrogen is an essential element of life."


However, not just any nitrogen will do. Nitrogen gas must be converted to a more chemically active form of nitrogen that can drive the reactions that form the basis of biological systems.


Imanaka and Mark Smith converted a nitrogen-methane gas mixture similar to Titan's atmosphere into a collection of nitrogen-containing organic molecules by irradiating the gas with high-energy UV rays. The laboratory set-up was designed to mimic how solar radiation affects Titan's atmosphere.


Most of the nitrogen moved directly into solid compounds, rather than gaseous ones, said Smith, a UA professor and head of chemistry and biochemistry. Previous models predicted the nitrogen would move from gaseous compounds to solid ones in a lengthier stepwise process.


Titan looks orange in color because a smog of organic molecules envelops the planet. The particles in the smog will eventually settle down to the surface and may be exposed to conditions that could create life, said Imanaka, who is also a principal investigator at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif.


However, scientists don't know whether Titan's smog particles contain nitrogen. If some of the particles are the same nitrogen-containing organic molecules the UA team created in the laboratory, conditions conducive to life are more likely, Smith said.


Laboratory observations such as these indicate what the next space missions should look for and what instruments should be developed to help in the search, Smith said.


Imanaka and Smith's paper, "Formation of nitrogenated organic aerosols in the Titan upper atmosphere," is scheduled for publication in the Early Online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of June 28. NASA provided funding for the research.


The UA researchers wanted to simulate conditions in Titan's thin upper atmosphere because results from the Cassini Mission indicated "extreme UV" radiation hitting the atmosphere created complex organic molecules.


Therefore, Imanaka and Smith used the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's synchroton in Berkeley, Calif. to shoot high-energy UV light into a stainless steel cylinder containing nitrogen-and-methane gas held at very low pressure.


The researchers used a mass spectrometer to analyze the chemicals that resulted from the radiation.


Simple though it sounds, setting up the experimental equipment is complicated. The UV light itself must pass through a series of vacuum chambers on its way into the gas chamber.


Many researchers want to use the Advanced Light Source, so competition for time on the instrument is fierce. Imanaka and Smith were allocated one or two time slots per year, each of which was for eight hours a day for only five to 10 days.


For each time slot, Imanaka and Smith had to pack all the experimental equipment into a van, drive to Berkeley, set up the delicate equipment and launch into an intense series of experiments. They sometimes worked more than 48 hours straight to get the maximum out of their time on the Advanced Light Source. Completing all the necessary experiments took years.


It was nerve-racking, Imanaka said: "If we miss just one screw, it messes up our beam time."
At the beginning, he only analyzed the gases from the cylinder. But he didn't detect any nitrogen-containing organic compounds.


Imanaka and Smith thought there was something wrong in the experimental set-up, so they tweaked the system. But still no nitrogen.
"It was quite a mystery," said Imanaka, the paper's first author. "Where did the nitrogen go?"


Finally, the two researchers collected the bits of brown gunk that gathered on the cylinder wall and analyzed it with what Imanaka called "the most sophisticated mass spectrometer technique."


Imanaka said, "Then I finally found the nitrogen!"


Imanaka and Smith suspect that such compounds are formed in Titan's upper atmosphere and eventually fall to Titan's surface. Once on the surface, they contribute to an environment that is conducive to the evolution of life.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0629170951.htm

[Mizango]

Zap yo dumbass:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0629170951.htm

Holy cow. O.O

[Max™]

I wonder what the various emissions from Jupiter (it's a noisy ass planet) would contibute to this process.

[pahnphoenix]

I wonder what the various emissions from Jupiter (it's a noisy ass planet) would contibute to this process.

because of jupiter's emissions, once intelligent, bipedal life inevitably evolves on titan, most individuals will be left-handed.

[Max™]

Fuck, we're all doomed, lefties will be driven to scourge the Universe of all proper-handedness!

[Max™]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...ure-confirmed/

http://images.nationalgeographic.com...01_600x450.jpg

Two years after making the claim, a team of astronomers says it holds bragging rights to releasing the first ever direct picture of an alien planet orbiting a sunlike star.
Most of the more than 400 known extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, have been found using indirect detection methods, such as looking for changes in starlight as a planet's gravity tugs on its host star, or as the planet passes in front of the star.
Unveiled in September 2008, a picture from the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii shows a direct view of a star system dubbed 1RXS 1609. At the time, astronomers didn't have enough data to say for sure that the bright dot near the star was in fact an orbiting world and not just an object in a chance alignment, as seen from Earth.

[Mizango]

I remember this story originally from back in 2008 but has forgotten about it, wow that's pretty cool and is a fantastic photo. I love me some exo-planets, so you hit a sweet spot with me on this one Max.