Comments on: LHC – It’s the end of the world as we know it http://www.haibane.info/2008/08/05/lhc-its-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it/ a celebration of science fiction, anime, and geek culture Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:58:20 +0000 hourly 1 By: fledgling otaku http://www.haibane.info/2008/08/05/lhc-its-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it/comment-page-1/#comment-1768 fledgling otaku Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:57:49 +0000 http://www.haibane.info/?p=1122#comment-1768 Hubble and Cassini were largish science, but keep in mind that those were single satellites. The ATLAS and ALICE experiments are on a different scale entirely. From the link, look at the picture of the ATLAS toroidal end-cap, or the ALICE detector, and consider that these are just pieces of the whole. I've seen comparable hardware at Fermilab in person, and I've also stood next to the Huygens probe of Cassini while visiting JPL, and the two are just not comparable in scope. Also keep in mind that Cassini launched 11 years ago, and Hubble 18 years ago. There are only three comparable projects to LHC/CERN in US history: the Manhattan project, the Apollo project, and the Superconducting Super Collider. That's 70 years ago, 50 years ago, and never, respectively. You could argue that the ISS is also the same scale, but that's not exclusively ours. Do I think we can do Big Science on this scale in the US? yes, absolutely, which is exactly why I am so bothered by thefact that we aren't - not for lack of capability, but lack of will. Read this about the SSC and what could have been: http://tinyurl.com/pr822 and keep in mind that the SSC had a proposed energy of 30 TeV per beam, compared to the 7 TeV for the LHC. Hubble and Cassini were largish science, but keep in mind that those were single satellites. The ATLAS and ALICE experiments are on a different scale entirely. From the link, look at the picture of the ATLAS toroidal end-cap, or the ALICE detector, and consider that these are just pieces of the whole. I’ve seen comparable hardware at Fermilab in person, and I’ve also stood next to the Huygens probe of Cassini while visiting JPL, and the two are just not comparable in scope. Also keep in mind that Cassini launched 11 years ago, and Hubble 18 years ago.

There are only three comparable projects to LHC/CERN in US history: the Manhattan project, the Apollo project, and the Superconducting Super Collider. That’s 70 years ago, 50 years ago, and never, respectively. You could argue that the ISS is also the same scale, but that’s not exclusively ours.

Do I think we can do Big Science on this scale in the US? yes, absolutely, which is exactly why I am so bothered by thefact that we aren’t – not for lack of capability, but lack of will.

Read this about the SSC and what could have been: http://tinyurl.com/pr822

and keep in mind that the SSC had a proposed energy of 30 TeV per beam, compared to the 7 TeV for the LHC.

]]> By: Steven Den Beste http://www.haibane.info/2008/08/05/lhc-its-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it/comment-page-1/#comment-1767 Steven Den Beste Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:34:26 +0000 http://www.haibane.info/?p=1122#comment-1767 I don't think your comment is quite fair. The US does a <i>lot</i> of "big science". (Hubble? Cassini?) I don’t think your comment is quite fair. The US does a lot of “big science”. (Hubble? Cassini?)

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