Large Hadron Collider starts today; help out with LHC@home
This one’s for everyone who misses the Science blog. So that includes me? *Grin*. Anyway, In case you didn’t know, the Large Hadron Collider’s atom smasher will start today.
So how would you feel about contributing to the research of the Large Hadron Collider? You know, help destroy the world and everything. I kid. But someday you might be able to contribute to the LHC’s research. That part’s true. Following in the footsteps of Folding@Home is LHC@Home. Dun dun dunnn.
And a big load of thanks goes to trigger for the tip!
Who says the Science blog is dead? Ok, it’s still on hiatus, but thanks to reader trigger, we have this little bit of news for you.
In case you didn’t know, the Large Hadron Collider‘s atom smasher will start today. The first beams will be be starting up, although the first high-energy collisions won’t start until next month. In honor of this, Google even has a new theme up, check out their front page logo. I can’t stop grinning at it:
Now, how would you feel about contributing to the research of the Large Hadron Collider? You know, help destroy the world and everything. I kid. But someday you might be able to contribute to the LHC’s research. That part’s true.
Evidently, CERN is starting a new project called LHC@home. That ring a bell? Yep, it’s like the PlayStation 3’s Folding@Home project, except this one analyzes programmes for the LHC. Most of its experiments will require huge amounts of storage, and will produce 15 Petabytes (15 million GB) of data per year, hence the need for this project.
Right now, the appropriate software is still being developed, and it seems it might only be available for PCs. However, the system runs on BOINC, which is supported by Linux, which can be run on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii, so who knows? Maybe they’ll port it for use with consoles in the future. Only rightly, seeing as Folding@Home is such a success.
But imagine that, a whole world-wide network acting as one big supercomputer to help with the research of the Large Hadron Collider. Everyone contributing to the end of the world. Hey, I’m kidding, I’m kidding, chill out. Goosefraba and all that.
This one’s for everyone who misses the Science blog. That includes me, of course. And a big load of thanks to trigger for the tip!
More Large Hadron Collider articles:
- LHC’s atom smasher starts up next week; scientists get death threats
- First proton particles injected into Large Hadron Collider
- How to make your own Large Hadron Collider
- The Science Weekend Warrior: black holes and Martian asparagus
Linux for the consoles:
- Yellow Dog Linux now available on public mirrors
- Experimental patchset available to update Xbox 360 Linux kernel
- Whiite-Linux v0.1a: Linux for Wii, with support for USB devices
Via LHC@Home
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