LHC collides hadrons at 7 TeV
The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced on March 30, 2010 that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) had collided particles at seven teraelcetron volts (TeV) for the first time, an important step toward reaching CERNs long-term goal of achieving 14 TeV in 2013.
According to CERN’s Twitter.com
account, which was updating followers on the LHC’s first collisions, the machine’s sensors recorded over 500,000 collisions when the first session ended on March 30.
According to a press release found on Cern.ch, the LHC’s collisions, despite only operating at half power, are still 3.5 times more powerful than any previous particle accelerator has achieved. Researchers will now start looking at the data for evidence to help explain some of the mysteries of physics, such as dark matter, new forces, new dimensions and the Higgs boson — the particle some physicists believe imparts mass to the universe.
CERN plans to run the LHC at seven TeVs for 18-24 months, in order to give researchers a significant amount of data to work with, then shut it down in preparation for routine maintenance and upgrades, which will prepare the LHC for being ramped up to 14 TeV.
3-D CBC?
Samsung began selling 3-D televisions in Canada in March, allowing customers to experience 3-D movies and television programs in their homes.
However, the technology, which offers a similar experience to what moviegoers saw in James Cameron’s Avatar, doesn’t come cheap. Samsung’s entry-level 40-inch 3-D TV will be priced from $2,499, not including the required glasses ($249 per pair) nor a 3-D capable Blu-ray player ($449).
This represents a significant buy-in for Canadians, many of whom may have recently upgraded to a flat panel TV or Blu-ray player, especially considering that a complete 3-D setup could cost as much as $3,500 for two adults.
The price of entry may seem even steeper when you consider the fact that some large studios, such as Fox — the studio that released Avatar, have elected to not release 3-D titles onto Blu-ray until the market for 3-D TV is better established.
According to an article posted on CBC.ca, Rogers is planning to bring 3-D TV to Canada as soon as possible, and might even be considering a dedicated 3-D channel.
What’s in a name?
On March 29, 2010 the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it would be investigating the process that resulted in the H1N1 flu outbreak of 2009 being labeled a “pandemic,” and what effect this may have had on the resulting global reaction.
On June 11, 2009 the WHO’s
Dr. Margaret Chan announced that H1N1, or “swine flu” as it was commonly known, was officially declared a “pandemic,” and that the WHO would be moving to “phase six” on their six-point scale of reactionary measures. This is the first time the WHO has done this since 1968.
The move to label H1N1 as a pandemic was criticized by some who felt that it would cause undue panic. Some even suggested that the decision may have been partially influenced by drug companies looking to sell vaccine stockpiles. The WHO defended their decision though, stating that the label spoke only to the global nature of the outbreak and not the severity of its symptoms or mortality rates.
The investigative panel, which will be composed of 30 researchers and public health officials, will present their report to the members of the WHO in May.
Fairness came with cities
A study published in the journal Science, conducted by UBCs Joseph Henrich, sought to answer the question of when the notion of treating strangers fairly arose as a shared human value.
The research team conducted a series of experiments on several groups of individuals from social groups as diverse as wage earners in Missouri to nomadic herders in Africa.
Each of the three variations of experiments asked individuals to divide an amount of money between themselves and an unknown, unseen stranger. In the first variation, the stranger had to take the amount given to them regardless of whether they thought it was fair or not. In the second variation the stranger could declare the offer unfair, which would result in neither party receiving any money. The third game added a third party, who could nullify seemingly unfair offers, to the mix.
The object of the experiments was to see how fair people were, and their willingness to punish unfairness.
Henrich found that people from larger communities tended to be fairer and more willing to punish unfairness, while people from smaller communities tended to be less fair and less willing to punish unfairness. From this he concluded that a sense of fairness toward strangers might have developed after humans started living in large communities, 10,000 years ago.
To Churchill and beyond!
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has announced that it plans to open a launch site for small payload rockets in either Fort Churchill, Man., or Cape Breton, N.S..
While there are facilities in the U.S. and Europe which launch commercial satellites, the facility proposed by the CSA would focus on small “micro satellites,” which are cheaper to build and cheaper to send up into orbit.
Eric Dubuc, a CSA engineer, cautioned Canadians to not get their hopes up, saying that it could take between five and 10 years to complete the deal and set the facility up.
