# The Large Hadron Collider was started this morning and the world is just fi **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 30, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363 "2010-03-30T18:53:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/1 "2010-03-30T18:53:33Z")
It seems that is “[yielding greater-than-predicted charged hadron production](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider#Current_results)” which i think is a good thing (when experiments produce unexpected results, discoveries are made) ,would any doper physicist (sp?) can surely explain more about what that means. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/2 "2010-03-30T18:55:47Z")
My flash-forward was me sitting on the can. Figures. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/3 "2010-03-30T19:27:40Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > My flash-forward was me sitting on the can. > > Figures. ☹ [You can see the live footage here](http://www.cyriak.co.uk/lhc/lhc-webcams.html) ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/4 "2010-03-30T19:44:52Z")
Am I the only one who thinks that the last word in the thread title is a little disconcerting? … … … … … …sort of reminds me of Monty Python’s "Castle of Aarghhhhhhh… ---
**Author:** ![Soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/5 "2010-03-30T19:45:06Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > [You can see the live footage here](http://www.cyriak.co.uk/lhc/lhc-webcams.html) And here I thought we were going to get a webcam of **JohnT** sitting on the can. Way to dash my hopes. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/6 "2010-03-30T19:48:48Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Am I the only one who thinks that the last word in the thread title is a little disconcerting? > .. > .. > .. > .. > .. > …sort of reminds me of Monty Python’s "Castle of Aarghhhhhhh… I tell you, the world is still going aro (Connection Lost) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/7 "2010-03-30T21:30:28Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Am I the only one who thinks that the last word in the thread title is a little disconcerting? > .. > .. > .. > .. > .. > …sort of reminds me of Monty Python’s "Castle of Aarghhhhhhh… What’s that sound? Sort of a “Whoooos—” ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/8 "2010-03-30T21:47:16Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > What’s that sound? Sort of a “Whoooos—” And so the world ends, not with a bang, but a woooosh… ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/9 "2010-03-30T21:49:22Z")
I see the Universe is still considerate enough to hit Submit fo ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/10 "2010-03-30T21:51:50Z")
Ok, so this is a bit off subject, and I sorta feel stupid for asking but… What’s this thing DO? (or supposed to do?) ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/11 "2010-03-30T21:55:19Z")
> [@torie](#): > > Ok, so this is a bit off subject, and I sorta feel stupid for asking but… > > What’s this thing DO? (or supposed to do?) _ **Nothing** _! thats the beauty of it. (Sorry, couldn’t resist) ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/12 "2010-03-30T22:04:10Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > _ **Nothing** _! thats the beauty of it. > > (Sorry, couldn’t resist) Ha! I just looked at the Wikipedia page and apparently it’s just one gigantic experiment, not intended to do anything but prove a hypothesis about how the universe works? ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/13 "2010-03-30T22:07:38Z")
> [@torie](#): > > Ha! I just looked at the Wikipedia page and apparently it’s just one gigantic experiment, not intended to do anything but prove a hypothesis about how the universe works? Yes, more or less, prove or disprove lots of hypothesis and generate data to base lots of more hypothesis on. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/14 "2010-03-31T00:09:12Z")
The black holes are coming…we’re doomed…doomed I tells ya 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/15 "2010-03-31T00:11:54Z")
My friend’s granny died this morning. Maybe after six months or a year, when he’s less upset about it, I’ll mention that it’s possible her death had something to do with the LHC… ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/16 "2010-03-31T02:50:59Z")
I mentioned the Collider news to a coworker this morning, and he told me the plot of Angels and Demons. So I’ve got that to blame CERN for. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Doctor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/17 "2010-03-31T03:54:49Z")
> [@torie](#): > > Ok, so this is a bit off subject, and I sorta feel stupid for asking but… > > What’s this thing DO? (or supposed to do?) Do? DO?? Oh, you mean why did we build something at some ginourmous cost? Well, you see, we get things going really, really fast and we **SMASH THEM TOGETHER**!!! Isn’t that cool? And then we get to look at all the bits and pieces when we are done and MAKE STUFF UP about how the universe is put together!!! Ok, ok, I’m being a little snarky about it. It actually would be kind of fun, but that is essentially what we are doing. Smash atoms and particles together to see what comes out and how that matches with current theories on the structure of the universe. And hopefully find out some things we didn’t know so we can get an even better understanding. But, smashing things together is the real reason – we are guys and like to smash things! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/18 "2010-03-31T03:57:08Z")
[Separate GQ thread about the purpose of this thing.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=12286187) ---
**Author:** ![Doctor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Doctor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/19 "2010-03-31T04:19:35Z")
Oh yeah, that thread in GQ for the science types and guys who approved the budgets. Sure, sure. Trust me – it’s really because it’s cool to smash things together and see if the universe ends or not! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363/20 "2010-03-31T04:34:24Z")
> [@Doctor](#): > > Oh yeah, that thread in GQ for the science types and guys who approved the budgets. Sure, sure. > > Trust me – it’s really because it’s cool to smash things together and see if the universe ends or not! :eek: They should have called the thing The Hulk… I imagine the “Go” button being big, green and with a glowing caption saying “Hulk SMASH!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-hadron-collider-was-started-this-morning-and-the-world-is-just-fi/534363.md?page=2)