Some LHC facts
Discussion
Found these stats amazing:
The LHC is a particle collider. It contains two experiments: Atlas and CMS (the "Compact Muon Solenoid"). Both of these experiments are essentially cameras recording collision events.
Once fully operational, the LHC will produce up to 600 million collision events per second. The Atlas experiment contains 100 million read-out sensors.
The vast amount of data produced is equivalent to an electronic copy of the Encyclopaedia Britannica per second. Bear in mind this is a 32-volume reference book made up of over 44 million words and 23,000 images.
This is obviously unmanageable. Therefore, 99.9995% of all the data has to be discarded, meaning "only" 200 events per second are actually recorded onto disc. The decision of what to keep and what to discard is decided by computers - 1000 processors running in parallel - based on 10 criteria. This decision is made in less than 2 microseconds.
Even this reduced recording capacity will generate petabytes of data per year. Based on the fact there are over 31 million seconds per year, if the LHC was run for 10 years it would generate more data than has been written or spoken by man since he appeared on Earth.
The magnet in the CMS experiment is over 6 metres in diameter. That is big enough to accomodate a blue whale for an MRI scan. The iron within the magnet - more, incidentally, than the Eiffel Tower is made up from - was supplied by the Russians. It comes from decommissioned battleship shells.
The LHC is a particle collider. It contains two experiments: Atlas and CMS (the "Compact Muon Solenoid"). Both of these experiments are essentially cameras recording collision events.
Once fully operational, the LHC will produce up to 600 million collision events per second. The Atlas experiment contains 100 million read-out sensors.
The vast amount of data produced is equivalent to an electronic copy of the Encyclopaedia Britannica per second. Bear in mind this is a 32-volume reference book made up of over 44 million words and 23,000 images.
This is obviously unmanageable. Therefore, 99.9995% of all the data has to be discarded, meaning "only" 200 events per second are actually recorded onto disc. The decision of what to keep and what to discard is decided by computers - 1000 processors running in parallel - based on 10 criteria. This decision is made in less than 2 microseconds.
Even this reduced recording capacity will generate petabytes of data per year. Based on the fact there are over 31 million seconds per year, if the LHC was run for 10 years it would generate more data than has been written or spoken by man since he appeared on Earth.
The magnet in the CMS experiment is over 6 metres in diameter. That is big enough to accomodate a blue whale for an MRI scan. The iron within the magnet - more, incidentally, than the Eiffel Tower is made up from - was supplied by the Russians. It comes from decommissioned battleship shells.
Kieran XJR said:
I also read that it's has the coldest place in the known universe, it's cooled to 1.8 degrees above absolute zero (about -273degC IIRC). Quite impressive.
Low Temperature Lab Helsinki University of Technology said:
"The record-low temperature was reached in a piece of rhodium metal, which was cooled to 100 pK, or 0.000 000 000 1 degrees above the absolute zero. The absolute zero is the limit of all temperatures, -273.15 °C, a temperature one can never reach. However, at the Low Temperature Laboratory, the researchers have for more than 20 years been reaching closer and closer. The previous Low Temperature World Record of 280 pK was in fact set here in 1993."
Why can't I use punctuation in the quote=x tag? Dammit.evenflow said:
It contains two experiments: Atlas and CMS (the "Compact Muon Solenoid"). Both of these experiments are essentially cameras recording collision events.
Actually....it's more than two experiments. You have:Atlas
CMS
Alice
LHCb
LHCf
There's a nice overview here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7534869....
king subject!!sneijder said:
The vast amount of data produced is equivalent to an electronic copy of the Encyclopaedia Britannica per second. Bear in mind this is a 32-volume reference book made up of over 44 million words and 23,000 images.
-- Do you know, in this day and age, that doesn't seem impressive.
Per second? -- Do you know, in this day and age, that doesn't seem impressive.
I thought it was a lot!evenflow said:
sneijder said:
The vast amount of data produced is equivalent to an electronic copy of the Encyclopaedia Britannica per second. Bear in mind this is a 32-volume reference book made up of over 44 million words and 23,000 images.
-- Do you know, in this day and age, that doesn't seem impressive.
Per second? -- Do you know, in this day and age, that doesn't seem impressive.
I thought it was a lot!
Einion Yrth said:
Kieran XJR said:
I also read that it's has the coldest place in the known universe, it's cooled to 1.8 degrees above absolute zero (about -273degC IIRC). Quite impressive.
Low Temperature Lab Helsinki University of Technology said:
"The record-low temperature was reached in a piece of rhodium metal, which was cooled to 100 pK, or 0.000 000 000 1 degrees above the absolute zero. The absolute zero is the limit of all temperatures, -273.15 °C, a temperature one can never reach. However, at the Low Temperature Laboratory, the researchers have for more than 20 years been reaching closer and closer. The previous Low Temperature World Record of 280 pK was in fact set here in 1993."
Why can't I use punctuation in the quote=x tag? Dammit.Kieran XJR said:
Einion Yrth said:
Kieran XJR said:
I also read that it's has the coldest place in the known universe, it's cooled to 1.8 degrees above absolute zero (about -273degC IIRC). Quite impressive.
Low Temperature Lab Helsinki University of Technology said:
"The record-low temperature was reached in a piece of rhodium metal, which was cooled to 100 pK, or 0.000 000 000 1 degrees above the absolute zero. The absolute zero is the limit of all temperatures, -273.15 °C, a temperature one can never reach. However, at the Low Temperature Laboratory, the researchers have for more than 20 years been reaching closer and closer. The previous Low Temperature World Record of 280 pK was in fact set here in 1993."
Why can't I use punctuation in the quote=x tag? Dammit.Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff