Universal Thinker

The Big Bang

Scientists have long theorized that the initial event that created our universe was a massively Big Bang where all potential Energy that existed in the universe was changed into a combination of Energy and Mass.

The Large Hadron Collider is an attempt to recreate the very first Big Bang, when time began. It has been in development since the initial budget of 2.6 Billion Swiss Francs was approved in 1995. Due to cost overruns in the initial planning the final big ticket cost of this technology will be 5 to 10 billion US dollars. Is it worth it?

Wouldn’t it be incredible if the GUT (Grand Unified Theory) were realized within our lifetimes? Maybe 5 to 10 billion US Dollars are worth having a clearer understanding of what happened at the beginning of time.

Scientists are looking for the Higgs Boson particle also known as the God particle. The technical definition is listed below:

The Higgs boson particle is one quantum component of the theoretical Higgs Field. In empty space, the Higgs field has a mathematical value that is always greater than zero. This is also known as a “non-zero vacuum expectation value”, and illustrates the concept that there is no such thing as a completely “empty” vacuum. The existence of this non-zero vacuum expectation plays a fundamental role: it gives mass to every elementary particle, including the Higgs boson itself. In particular, the acquisition of a non-zero vacuum expectation value spontaneously breaks electroweak gauge symmetry, which scientists often refer to as the Higgs mechanism. This is the simplest mechanism capable of giving mass to the gauge bosonsgauge theories. In essence, this field is analogous to a pool of molasses, that “sticks” to the otherwise massless fundamental particles which travel through the field converting into different particles with mass and form the basis of the atom.

This in essence is what gives particles - mass - a basic building block of material reality. The particle is theorized, but as of yet, no one has been able to find one. Take 5 to 10 billion US dollars and perhaps maybe you too can find the God particle once you build a super collider under a mountain range on the border of two European nations.

Danger ahead?

This is all theoretical physics at this point, but if you are feeling uneasy Walter L. Wagner has put together the LHCDefense.org to make sure that CERN doesn’t accidentally destroy the Earth with mini black holes among other things. David Morrison at ask an astrobiologist doesn’t believe there is anything to worry about even regarding the relativistic heavy-ion collider or RHIC back in 1999:

“..Nature has been conducting the same kind of reactions for billions of years by colliding heavy-ion cosmic rays with the Moon. This study concluded that creation of a black hole is “effectively ruled out by the persistence of the Moon.”

Perhaps no one will be opening a rift in the space-time continuum to the planet of Xen anytime soon, but it is still an interestingly possible impossibility.

–Ghostmachine

It seems that the primary source of funding in this endeavor is none other than the Pentagon itself. There is no doubt that there is a definate use for invisible shielding or a cloaking device to create actual (and not just radar) stealth vehicles for use in instruments of war.

The technology that allows for invisibility is known as metamaterials. A metamaterial (or meta material) is a material which gains its properties from its structure rather than directly from its composition. To distinguish metamaterials from other composite materials, the metamaterial label is usually used for a material which has unusual properties.

The property that allows for invisibility in a particular spectrum of light is the negative refractive index. In layman’s terms, this allows a ray of light to be refracted around, for instance, a cylidrical object in such a way that the light bypasses the object entirely thus rendering it invisibile in that particular spectrum of visible light.

This brings to light (absolutely no pun intended) an interesting situation if this were to be engineered to work for all visibile light. Whoever is enclosed by the object, would be in complete darkness due to the fact that all light is bent around the object. How would one see anything? You would still have to have some aspect of the cylinder allowing light to pass through, therefore the object would not be totally invisible, but would have some minute measure of visibility.

If invisibility becomes a possible impossiblity - what type of social ramifications would there be? As Plato wrote in the Republic about the ring of Gyges:

“No man would keep his hands off what was not his own when he could safely take what he liked out of the market, or go into houses and lie with any one at his pleasure, or kill or release from prison whom he would, and in all respects be like a god among men.”

For a man or Government to have this type of power is a dangerous situation indeed.