More On The International Linear Collider

paragon_au writes "The UK Independent is reporting that details for a purposed 40km long international Linear Collider have been released by 'An international panel of particle physicists [that] decided the high-energy linear collider - a £3bn machine for smashing matter against antimatter - will use revolutionary superconducting technology to shed light on the origin and nature of the universe. Plans for the International Linear Collider have still to be finalised but scientists hope that construction of the underground machine will begin in six years.'"

Why not revive the SSC?

[twiddlingbits]

THe old Superconducting SuperCollider (SSC) is still there, half built in Texas. All the buildings are still intact and the tunnels are still there (just closed off). Would THAT be cheaper. As I recall it was also about 40km in length. I live near that site and I'm sure that we could make someone a HECK of a deal on the site. Of course there are people living nearby now but it's not going to be a hazard. IIRC, The collider at Stanford (SLAC) goes under houses, campus bldgs and a freeway. Oh right, I forgot, common sense and high-energy high $$$ physics projects don't go together.

Re:Chances of Life

[gears5665]

its tough being anti-american and an american at the same time...I actually like myself... but I completely understand the rest of the world not wanting to give our government their money. Which is exactly why good foriegn policy is so important to a nation. Our science is directly and negatively affected by the anti-science position of the current Administration. I was trying not to rant...I think I explained my points.

FEL anyone?

[imsabbel]

Wasnt this supposed to be combined with the new free electron laser build there? That the electron part of the collider would also feed the FEL?

Shedding light on the origin of the universe

[NitsujTPU]

...again.

Isn't that ALWAYS what they say about these things? Nobody ever says "This is to help us built anti-matter bombs."

That said, sounds exciting, let me go ahead and echo what the other poster said WTF happened to the SSC?

What do we get out of this?

[McCall]

The article and talks a great deal about discovering the origins of matter. I am not a physicists so I really don't know the answer to why this takes precedence over other scientific problems, for example discovering a cure to cancer or AIDS?

3 billion is a lot of money, and I am sure there are AIDS or cancer researchers who badly need it, and I can actually see a benefit to humanity in those cases.

I am not against spending 3 billion on science just for the sake of improving humanity, in many cases we have discovered some wonderful things, but I was just wondering, are we going to say "Ah, that's how it works!" and then shut the machine down because there isn't a practical use for knowing the origins of matter or are there projects to actually make use of the results in the pipeline?

Answers.

[SKorvus]

You're absolutely right: humanity is facing some immediate, pressing problems: the environment, overpopulation, soil & water depletion, and disease as you mentioned.

For the most part however, these are human problems, with human solutions. We know what causes overpopulation, and that in turn results in environmental damage, starvation etc. We also know what causes AIDs; and its spread is more a result of governmental unwillingness to educate their populations and promote safe sexual practices, than lack of medical technology. Likewise, cancer is largely a Western disease, and diet & lifestyle plays a large part in the likelihood one gets it: it's for the most part preventable.

But here we are, in a Universe. While we've made significant progress, we still don't really know what the hell it is. What are the rules? What makes everything happen? How did it come to be? Pursuing the answers to these fundamental questions is natural human curiosity, and the same drive that has led to many of our other scientific and technological advancements.

Knowing the answers may not be of use to the average person, other than possibly having another neat formula to put on T-shirts. But having a complete model of how the universe works, may result in many spin-off technologies. I'm speculating, but they may include things like quantum propulsion, true nanoscale engineering, new materials development... who knows.

Politicians are going to be idiots and let people die of preventable diseases, breed until they wipe out the natural world, etc. But should particle physicists simple twiddle their thumbs while humanity consumes itself; or busy themselves seeking a better understanding of the cosmos we inhabit, and perhaps giving us better tools to improve our world and ourselves?

Because other sciences hang off physics

[panurge]

Cutting edge physics research cannot be guaranteed to have spin offs. This is because real science is (duh) experimental. However, let's just follow through one particular train of thought:

1. Research into cancer and AIDS is a branch of biochemistry.
2. Biochemistry depends on science like DNA sequencing and protein folding
3. DNA sequencing and protein folding need fast computers
4. Fast computers need leading-edge engineering and physics.
5. The structure of DNA was clarified partly as a result of X-ray analysis
6. The discovery of X-rays was a byproduct of pure research into conduction of electricity in gases

We have no way to be certain that deeper insights into the fundamental structure of matter will contribute to solving other biological problems - but we have no ay to find out other than to do it.

You might also like to consider that $3billion is less than drug companies spend on advertising and promotion every year.

Re:Chances of Life

[RWerp]

Want to change international perception, than help encourage the US to build big science projects like this. The US needs to once more be the worlds top destination for scientists, and this is one of the ways of doing so.

Suppose the USA builds a great scientific project and invite scientist from all over the world, what will happen? Half of them won't be let into the USA for 'security reasons'.

Re:Ultimate Question...

[Izago909]

It will help us, among other things, close the link between matter and energy. It sounds very star trek, I know, but it's one of mankind's greatest achievements waiting to happen. It's also a step closer to a working unification theory or (dis)proving string and superstring theory, supersymmetry, and m-theory. These may or may not be the follow-ups that can cast a shadow on general and special relativity, just like Einstein did to Newton.

Re:Shedding light on the origin of the universe

[Izago909]

I'm not too scared of that. People have learned enough about thermonuclear weapons that the atimatter genie won't be let out ASAP. WWII was the reason nuclear weapons were produced so early. In the new era, ear isn't about inflicting total destruction at the largest scale. It's about surgical precision. That's why I'm more afraid of directed energy weapons than antimatter weapons.

Re:Ultimate Question...

[Anonymous Coward]

There are 3 Ultimate Questions, we know only 2: 1.Does god play dice? 2.What is the god particle? 3.?