Supercollider? I 'ardly know 'er!

i wish i could take credit for the post title, but it comes from the recurring genius of xkcd. if you hold your mouse over the comics, you discover the pseudo-secret punchlines of each comic - which is where i found the title!


the initial stages of the start-up of the large hadron collider (LHC) are going smoothly over in switzerland. this is good news for things to come! you can listen to BBC radio 4 all day as Andrew Caspari sits in the control room to give regular updates.

today they are sending protons into the accelerator for the first time, but they are only sending the proton beams around one direction at a time. they are not actually sending the beams in opposite directions today in order to collide them. that will come at a later date.

cosmic variance is live-blogging the LHC start-up.

PodBlack Cat has up-to-date videos from LHC. exciting!!!

here's a funny video about the LHC by steve punt.

phit plait, the bad astronomer, says his peace about the LHC. again.

PhDcomics has a week-long series about a tour of the LHC from a grad student.

i'm trying to get some work done.

UPDATE!!! the beam of protons has gone all the way around the accelerator in both directions! the LHC has officially been born after over a decade of work. congratulations to all those involved!!