kryptikmo

Sure, we first learned about dark matter and dark energy from astronomical observations, but that doesn't mean that we're off when we talk about them. If we assume that the laws of nature are similar everywhere, then the mass is out there. If we find evidence of exotic particles at LHC, then we have a candidate for that mass. If not, then perhaps the universe is even weirder that we think. We don't need the particles to "interact" with the accelerator - we are aiming to create them and observe them inside the accelerator. Size does have a role to play in considering the impact, but not in the classical definition of kinetic energy, you're right. When reading these pieces, try to remember that the interviewee is giving an interview to a non-expert and is hyping everything up. I suspect that he is trying to put across the image of a big, big impact constrained in a tiny space, leading to immense pressures and very high energy densities. Anything more doesn't really make sense. The nuclear bomb analogy doesn't really work here. It's like saying what hurts worse? Really bad toothache or being punched in the shin? The link I sent you should provide you with some numbers on the energies released.

Particle physics underpins a lot of astrophysics. Astrophysics and particle physics are starting to blend into one subject (Astroparticlephysics) because we can only really get the high energy particles that we need from stars and exotic galactic objects. The size of a zero means the zero on the 20 pence piece, not an area of zero size - that doesn't make sense. How fast to be slammed? About the same size in arbiitrary units as the size of your nuclear bomb, also in arbitrary units You can find more info about the numbers involved here: http://www.cern.ch

Journeying into unknown territory in physics is not exactly like Jason and the Argonauts sailing in unknown waters. If you set up a normal experiment, I can tell you with good accuracy what will happen, or at least the probability of each outcome. For example, if you drop a ball from height h then I can tell you that it will fall towards the ground at such a speed, with such an acceleration and will take a certain amount of time to get there, and I'll be accurate to within 0.0001% or so. With the LHC, we are testing new laws of physics - trying to measure particles that only normally occur in the middle of stars, at great temperature and pressure. We've no prior info for what these particles will do - we don't know how they behave when they hit something, we don't know if they can hit things - they may just sail straight through. There's lots of different theories, and the experimental results from the LHC will help us see which theory is closest. Without your having had a decent background in physics (undergrad at the very least), it's difficult to explain exactly what we're doing. Basically, there's not really any danger - all that stuff about "sailing into unknown waters" and "it could destroy the world!!!" is because these machines are very expensive, and in order to justify the cost to the politicians who fund them, saying that there are innumerable benefits to society etc. is all very well, but saying that there's been lots of telly and newspaper coverage is what the politicians like best. And nothing sells TV programs and newspapers like "OMG!!!They're goin to end the world!!!!!11!one!". You've more chance being blown up by a terrorist, much more chance of being killed by an STD and much, much more chance of being killed in a road traffic accident. Put it this way - if we all die because of CERN, I'll give you my kite stuff, and £100 on top

You do realise that us particle physicists don't wear white coats, right? You've got us mixed up with chemists. We've not even got beakers filled with bubbly green stuff! We do have kick-ass computers and a .torrent collection to die for though...

I was really disappointed by this - strikes me as a kind of mish-mash of a lot of good ideas, but the writing style is hard to follow and is sometimes too clever for its own good. I second (third? fourth?) the Ian M. Banks suggestions though. I just finished The Player of Games - his books take a little perseverance to being with, but are really good once you get going. Also take a look at "The Algebraist". Time Enough For Love by Robert Heinlein is pretty interesting as well, if you're into SciFi, with some funny moments.

As far as I can tell (never used one, but gonna give an opinion anyway ) the kites are pretty good especially considering the price, but the accessories - harness & buggy, for example - seem to be poorly made and poorly designed.

Just recently bought from Roritor and Paseawright - both decent guys, really helpful. Would definitely buy from either again!

Just a word on Acer - I've known a couple of people with their laptops, and the screens failed on both. After a year (!) of messing around sending it backwards and forwards, one guy just bought a new laptop, got sick of messing with Acer's "engineering" dept...

I have a Dell laptop, and it's never been a problem. The only complaint that I have is the the headphone-out socket is scratchy, due to the internal configuration of the hardware - they trap the audio cable over the hard drive, and it picks up noise from there What you could try is the Dell outlet store - google it - where they sell returns and refurbs for 2/3->3/4 of the price new. You do need extra RAM, and I'd go for something with a separate graphics card, but other than that, the entire range is good, and very cheap for what you get.

Well, it would make getting home from work a more interesting experience... More seriously, we have free speech - more or less. No-one's stopping anyone from starting their own website, paying their own bandwidth costs and saying whatever they like. However, if you're going to rely on someone else to help you speak, it's not unexpected that they may to have some editorial control on what you say...

As said previously, anything by Tom Holt ("The Little People", maybe), although the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde is pretty good too. Incompetnce - Rob Grant (he of Red Dwarf fame) is good too. Anything by Christopher Brookmyre is very funny, although his "A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away" and "Boiling a Frog" are among my favourites....

@bob That's a really nice app, but I was thinking of something that was text-searchable, thus indexable by search engines...so if I enter "kiting locations Irvine" it would come up on the results page...see this, for example: http://www.spka.co.uk/locations.html

I'd review the stuff that I own, although it's not much. Have you thought about keeping a list of decent kiting locations on the site, complete with links to Google maps/MultiMap? It's something that would be really useful, and something that doesn;t exist on a single page on the net, that I can see.

"Limewire" screams problems to me. According to the BBC, it's one of the most likely searches to return Malware on a search engine - are you sure that you got the official build? Otherwise, anything that you downloaded from P2P is risky - did you grab (and watch, or listen to) some file from somewhere? Also, where does it stop? Does it get to the Windows loading screen, or does it get to the BIOS bootup, finish that and go blank?

What were you doing last time it was on? Did you install anything new - updates to your drivers, new programs etc.?

With my Sting, I disconnect everything and stick the loop of each line over the spiked ends of the winder - wind each line separately, then move to the next. I've not had any problems like this, although it does take some time to do - maybe 5 minutes to set up and the same time to pack....

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I've decided on a Core - I'll maybe get a dirtsurfer once I've mastered the basics...

Pimp away, if it means a beginner's discount!

Not a bad idea, but I was going to go second hand and get one, to begin with You've got a core for sale, right?

I'm new to landboarding - I don't even have one yet - and I'm considering what to buy for myself. I see that the DirtSurfer GP-X and the MBS Core 8 are about the same price. I know that they're two different styles, so I thought I'd ask around and see if anyone had any advice? I'll mostly be on sand and grass. Whilst I'd like to do some jumping, I'm not so bothered about straightout speed - so what do you guys think?