1 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:16,480 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. And 4 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:20,480 Speaker 1: don't go away, uh just yet, know to the listener, 5 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: because I know the title of this of this podcast 6 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: has Higgs in it. Higgs boson. You know, it's LHC. 7 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: It's all that stuff. It's subotomic particles, is subatomic physics. 8 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: But please don't run off this yet, because here's here's 9 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 1: my take on all of this, just real quick, I 10 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: kind of look at subatomic particles and particle physics is 11 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: being kind of like a chocolate covered Urnal cake. I'm 12 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: talking about this yesterday, So chocolate covered Urnal cake. It's 13 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: it's great so long as you do not bite in 14 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: too far, as long as you know exactly how deep 15 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: to go into the subject, and everything's chocolate and nice. 16 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: Go too deep and things get confusing, confusing and awful 17 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: really really fast. That's just my personal take. I'm not 18 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: meaning to dump on physics or particle physics. It's very important, 19 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 1: and we're gonna stress the importance of Higgs and everything 20 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:14,400 Speaker 1: in this episode. But we're very much approaching this from 21 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: the standpoint of we're going to break it down and 22 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: tell you what you need to know about it, and 23 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: we're not going to go so deep that we're gonna 24 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: hit Urnal cake. Yeah, and if if you're really disturbed 25 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: by the Urnal cake, just think of it as the 26 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,399 Speaker 1: most decadant chocolate covered dessert, not a Urnal cake that 27 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:31,759 Speaker 1: you could only take a couple of bites of. You'd 28 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: be very satisfied by anything else if you'd have a 29 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 1: tummy ache. Yeah, because this is one of those those topics. 30 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: It's really important. That's why it's in the news all 31 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:42,399 Speaker 1: the time. But I feel like we have a tendency 32 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:46,679 Speaker 1: to not read articles that are actually about higgs, or 33 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: to just we just sort of register, oh, there's something 34 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: happening with the Higgs, and you can go on like 35 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: that for months and months and never actually stop to 36 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: attempt to understand what it is. And then certainly scientists 37 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: face that disconnect to trying to explain something that's really 38 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: really complicated. It's it's right at the bleeding edge of 39 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:07,279 Speaker 1: our understanding, and only that it's it's a it's really 40 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 1: interesting exciting stuff because it says something about the way 41 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: that our whole world is is stuck together and how 42 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:17,640 Speaker 1: we actually exist. So we're gonna try to get to 43 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: the bottom of that today without too much urine in 44 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:23,520 Speaker 1: the urine cake, too much chocolate and the chocolate cake, 45 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: so to speak. So why is it in the news, Well, 46 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: it's because in the past couple of weeks and we 47 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: should mention that we were recording this h what's the date, 48 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: July seventeen, Yeah, we're recording this July seventeen thereabouts eight. 49 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: I don't know what day it is. Yeah, you know, 50 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: they're abouts. That's the time bubble that we're trapped in 51 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: recording us. It's entirely likely there'll be a new development 52 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: before this goes live. We may or may not have 53 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: time to edit things that that's the case, So just 54 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: bear with us. Uh, if you if you're hearing this 55 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: six months from now and there's all this sort of 56 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 1: crazy news out there that has given us new to 57 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: the understanding of Higgs, please please do not become incensed 58 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: with us. Yeah, but but this is all the data 59 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: in here is going to be good bedrock regardless. So 60 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 1: the whole news is that, you know, we've been searching 61 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: for the Higgs boson for a while, we've been we've 62 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: been slamming stuff together in a particle accelerator, which we'll 63 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:20,079 Speaker 1: get into in a minute. We've been give another word, 64 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:23,639 Speaker 1: we've been conducting this massive experiment to try and glimpse 65 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 1: this particle, uh that only exists for a fraction of 66 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:30,920 Speaker 1: a second. We think it theoretically should exist, and we 67 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 1: want to find it. And so they have spotted something 68 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: they think maybe it, but we're not sure yet. Yeah, 69 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: and it's important to say that that right now, physicists 70 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: are simply calling it Higgs, like uh, not the Higgs 71 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: Boson particle. So um. And the reason they're doing that 72 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: is because they have a bunch of data. They've got 73 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: a mountain of data. But they want to be really 74 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: careful about it because it could be just turned out 75 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: to be not the Higgs particle but a different particle, yeah, 76 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: or something more exotic version of it. It's a lot 77 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: is writing on finding it, though, because we'll discuss I mean, 78 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: the whole standard model of physics points towards its existence 79 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: right right, and everything else lines up in the standard model. Okay, 80 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: so everything that we can make sense and it we 81 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:17,279 Speaker 1: we have plugged everything in. We can see where things 82 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 1: are working, and we just need this last bit of 83 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: the puzzle, and Higgs is it's it's the clue that 84 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 1: makes everything happen. Um. Let's talk about certain real quick. 85 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: But this is a multinational research center headquartered in Geneva, 86 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: and it houses the super collider that we've been talking about, 87 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: called the Large Hadron Collider. There are two teams of 88 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: about three thousand physicists, each one named ATLAS, and that's 89 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: led by Fabulo Legion note and the other CMS is 90 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: led by dr Incandeta, and they operate giant detectors in 91 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: the collider, sorting the debris from the primordial fireballs left 92 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,279 Speaker 1: after protown collisions. Now I'll give you a quick run 93 00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: throound the protoun collisions. Um. So in order to get 94 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 1: this situation where we have all this stuff we can 95 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,679 Speaker 1: analyze and try and spot things like the higgs um 96 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 1: what we have at the l h C. It's this 97 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: massive track, all right, this massive ring of super conducting magnets, 98 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:17,159 Speaker 1: about seventeen miles of these things, giant underground loop. It 99 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: spans France and UH in Switzerland. Ever, and I like 100 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 1: to think of it in terms of UH. If you 101 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,479 Speaker 1: remember the Adams family. Gomez Adams had the trains that 102 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:28,280 Speaker 1: he would set up, but he would set them up 103 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: so that he would eventually have two trains have a 104 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: head on collision and crash, a big fiery explosive crash 105 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 1: there on his his model train set. And this is 106 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: how they came up with the idea of LHD. Right, well, 107 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: maybe it's fun to think think of it that way. 108 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: That's the way I imagine it, because he would get 109 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: real giddy and you would just be watching the super 110 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,600 Speaker 1: close as those things collided. And that's what we're doing. 111 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,159 Speaker 1: So instead of using trains, um, we are sending two 112 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: beams of particles close to the speed of light through 113 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: that ring, each traveling in a different direction, all inside 114 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,600 Speaker 1: of a vacuum. And then the collision and happens. All right, Um, 115 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:04,840 Speaker 1: things get smashed apart, and in that moment, that this 116 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:10,159 Speaker 1: moment of chaos, we can glimpse these just ephemeral particles 117 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,599 Speaker 1: that only exist, Um, you know in the this that 118 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:18,599 Speaker 1: minute sliver of time following such a catastrophe. And we 119 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:21,839 Speaker 1: know the mass of the different particles, right, So for instance, 120 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: a proton is about a billion electric volts when it's 121 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: smashed and then it begins to decay UM. And so 122 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: there's a specific signature that each of these particles has, 123 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:38,839 Speaker 1: and it's believed that that our friend Higgs, that particle 124 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 1: has has a very specific range I think between something 125 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,119 Speaker 1: I'm around there. And so what they began to see 126 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: is these what they call data bumps in this decay factor, 127 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:54,039 Speaker 1: these signatures, and last winter they reported these hints of 128 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:58,280 Speaker 1: this particle, this ghost of a particle in the machine UM, 129 00:06:58,320 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: and they wanted to make sure it wasn't us to 130 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 1: hisstical fluke, and it wasn't. And they've been working with 131 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:05,839 Speaker 1: from Labs to in in Illinois because they also have 132 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:08,479 Speaker 1: a collider and trying to figure out, I, hey, is 133 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 1: this little ghost for seeing something a hint of what 134 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: could be the Higgs particle? Of course, you know who 135 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 1: else UM has a particle accelerator? Who the Ghostbusters if 136 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 1: you'll remember the proton pop packs were particle accelerators, That's right. 137 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: So so we're talking about very similar technology here, except 138 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 1: instead of being used to harness a spirit and uh 139 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: and force it into a trap, we're instead just aiming 140 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: them at each other. In a way, we're kind of 141 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: crossing the streams were just colliding streams, right, well, plasma 142 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 1: involved in both. Right. Yeah, Um, that was an attempt 143 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:44,800 Speaker 1: at a at a Higgs joke. But but there are 144 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: a lot of attempts at Higgs jokes going on right now. 145 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 1: It's a it's a rich area of comedy. Well, and 146 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 1: this is the reason, I think, because because everybody knows 147 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: that it's it's it's exciting news. It could change our 148 00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:00,560 Speaker 1: view of physics. Uh. And yet it's such a weighty 149 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 1: topic that I think that it's gotten some fuel here 150 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: from from comedy because you know, it's very hard to understand, 151 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:09,560 Speaker 1: and yet people are trying to put it in terms 152 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 1: that makes sense of it and a little um less 153 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: afraid of it too, because it's gonna be intimidating. It's 154 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: like particle physics. But you throw in a joke about it, 155 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: then it's a little more relatable. Well you know, it's 156 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: fat joke. There are a lot of fat jokes about it, 157 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 1: mass jokes. Yeah. Um. Holly Fry from pop Stuff actually 158 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: was talking to me yesterday about the whole brew haha 159 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: about comic sands, the font that was used by CERN 160 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: in their power point slide when they were discussing their 161 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:44,560 Speaker 1: discovery of this Higgs like particle, and people are just outraged. 162 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: Comics Sands, Is that the one that looks like illuminated 163 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:51,439 Speaker 1: stand um? Yeah? Yeah, it actually is a font. It's 164 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,080 Speaker 1: a font that is intended for children, was designed for 165 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:58,120 Speaker 1: that purpose. It's very easy to read. Um. But people 166 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:00,839 Speaker 1: are like, really like this huge relation that is going 167 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 1: to be now released into the world with that font um, 168 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 1: and people are going nuts. Ober. I think it's really 169 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: funny there they were. They were torn between that one 170 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:12,160 Speaker 1: and the blood drippy font you know, one of the two. Yeah, yeah, 171 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: or maybe like the nineteen twenties like Broadway font um. 172 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 1: But anyway, I think that, you know, maybe it was intentional. 173 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:22,680 Speaker 1: Maybe they felt like if they took this really simplistic 174 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: font and um and then gave all this really heavy 175 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:31,439 Speaker 1: information that people would be more psychic psychologically primed to 176 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: be like, okay, I can get this who knows um. 177 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,200 Speaker 1: But there's a bunch of big Higgs jokes going around 178 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: to Here's one Higgs Boston walks into a Catholic church 179 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 1: pret says, what are you doing here? Higgs Boston says, 180 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:48,480 Speaker 1: you can't have mass without me? Yeah, because yeah, well, 181 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 1: we'll explain that later. Yeah, we're gonna get into that. 182 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: All right. We should probably set aside Higgs jokes unless 183 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 1: you have any more. Now, I mean, that's a good 184 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: example of one, right there. Um. I mean, because a 185 00:09:57,920 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 1: lot of them legacy come down to wait, they come 186 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: down mass, because the Higgs is very tied up in 187 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:06,439 Speaker 1: this idea of mass and why does anything have mass? Uh, 188 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:09,079 Speaker 1: So we need to talk a little bit about standard 189 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:15,080 Speaker 1: model now. The the thing about standard model UM is 190 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: that it's about explaining the complexity of our universe. It's 191 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 1: about trying to really get down to what makes up 192 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:26,839 Speaker 1: the universe, what are the rules concerning its structure. So 193 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:29,680 Speaker 1: it's it's really important. You know, we're talking about the 194 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:31,840 Speaker 1: the structure of the universe, the origins of the universe. 195 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 1: It's very hard, but it's also kind of like the 196 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: old It reminds me of the you know, the analogy 197 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: of the elephant, the blind men grasping of the elephant. 198 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:41,560 Speaker 1: And in the past we've you know, various areas of 199 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:43,840 Speaker 1: science have been touching one part of the elephant is saying, 200 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: oh it's a tree, Oh it's a snake, Oh it's 201 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 1: a it's a it's it's a sale or something that's 202 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: a giant pancake, it's a wall. But what we really 203 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:55,160 Speaker 1: want is a more complete vision of what the universe 204 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:58,240 Speaker 1: is and how it works, and so standard models an 205 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: attempt to do that. Um. Yeah, And for historical context, 206 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 1: you should point out that in the early days of 207 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 1: the twentieth century, particle physics was really in its infancy, 208 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,400 Speaker 1: and we're talking about you know, just knowing about two particles, 209 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 1: protons and electrons. That was the extent of our knowledge. Yeah, 210 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 1: I mean, we discovered adams and protons, neutrons, electrons, quarks 211 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 1: and leptons eventually, So when we keep diving deeper. Uh 212 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: and and so uh enter the standard model, which describes 213 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:31,679 Speaker 1: the universe as being made of twelve different matter particles 214 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 1: and four forces. Okay, those twelve particles include six quarks, 215 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: six leptons, but don't worry about that right now. Uh. 216 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:44,520 Speaker 1: And then it also involves these four forces gravity, electromagnetic force, 217 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:48,959 Speaker 1: strong force, and weak force. Yes, and those I think 218 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 1: are a lot easier to grasp. Um. Those those different forces, 219 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 1: they work over different ranges and they have different strengths. 220 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:57,680 Speaker 1: Gravity is the weakest, but it has an infinite range. 221 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 1: The electromagnetic force so has an infinite range, but it's 222 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:05,080 Speaker 1: many times stronger than gravity. The weak and strong forces 223 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,440 Speaker 1: are effective only over a short, very short range and 224 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 1: dominate only at the level of sub atomic particles. So 225 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: that's really where Higgs Boston becomes important here. Um, and 226 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:17,560 Speaker 1: despite its name, the weak force is much stronger than 227 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,560 Speaker 1: gravity that it is actually the weakest of of the 228 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,680 Speaker 1: other three the strong forces, as that the name says, 229 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:29,280 Speaker 1: the strongest of the forces. Yeah, the theory proposes that electricity, magnetism, light, 230 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: and some types of radioactivity are all manifestations of that 231 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:38,240 Speaker 1: single electroweak force. Uh. So it unites the electromagnetic and 232 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:40,960 Speaker 1: weak forces, two of the four fundamental forces of nature, 233 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 1: along with strong force and gravity. But this theory only 234 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,000 Speaker 1: holds water if the particles in question had no mass, 235 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,439 Speaker 1: zero mass in the period immediately following the Big Bang. 236 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: So we this theory creates this situation where we have 237 00:12:57,160 --> 00:12:59,079 Speaker 1: there has to be this time when they had no mass, 238 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: so there has to be something it is giving them mass. 239 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:05,680 Speaker 1: We have to find a perpetrator, a suspect, somebody we 240 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:08,160 Speaker 1: can pin mass itself on. So it's kind of like 241 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:10,600 Speaker 1: somebody's been stealing the donuts. We don't know who, but 242 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,720 Speaker 1: we know that person exists. We know that that donut 243 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:16,320 Speaker 1: thief exists somewhere and we just have to spot them. 244 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:19,720 Speaker 1: And in this case, the donut thief is the Higgs boson. 245 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:23,440 Speaker 1: It is this is the particle that theoretically is well 246 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 1: not stealing donuts, but um is involved in the process 247 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:30,599 Speaker 1: of giving things mass. Okay, Yeah, And three of the 248 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: fundamental forces result from the exchange of force carrier carrier particles. Okay, 249 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: and um, this belongs to the broader group called bosons. Right, 250 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,000 Speaker 1: this is where Higgs boson comes in. So that is 251 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: this exchange, that's what's giving it mass. This is this 252 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,440 Speaker 1: is what works in the equation. So all of these forces, 253 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: these four forces that we're talking about UM, theoretically then 254 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:56,560 Speaker 1: aligned to a particular particle. That's right. So Um, you 255 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:59,200 Speaker 1: know you've got each fund of fundamental force having its 256 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,959 Speaker 1: own corresponding boson particle. The strong forces carried by the gluon, 257 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:07,400 Speaker 1: the electromagnetic forces carried by the photon um little packets 258 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 1: of light as we know them, and the W and 259 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:15,079 Speaker 1: Z bosons are responsible for the weak force. Yeahs Um particle. 260 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:18,000 Speaker 1: Physicists don't like for you to call Higgs Boson the 261 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:20,080 Speaker 1: god particle, but you can kind of think of these 262 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:26,000 Speaker 1: little particles as gods of their corresponding UM force. Yeah, 263 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 1: in the w Z, it gets it gets complicated fast, 264 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 1: Like even just throwing this set, you guys are probably 265 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: w Z the glue on the dada. But if you 266 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:36,040 Speaker 1: think about them all corresponding with those different forces, it's 267 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:39,360 Speaker 1: a lot easier to to understand. Um. And then of 268 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: course you're policy sitting there saying what about gravity? Um, 269 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 1: Well it's you know, we haven't found this particle yet 270 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 1: to correspond with gravity, but um, we expect something called 271 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:52,000 Speaker 1: the graviton to be a force caring particle of gravity, 272 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,760 Speaker 1: and gravity is the problem of the standard model. Um. Now, 273 00:14:55,800 --> 00:15:00,240 Speaker 1: according to CERN, it's not as big a problem as 274 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:03,000 Speaker 1: we think it is. Though. Um. They seem to dawnplay 275 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 1: a bit. They say that fitting gravity comfortably into the 276 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 1: framework has proved to be a difficult challenge. The quantum 277 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 1: theory used to describe the micro world and the general 278 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 1: theory of relativity used to describe the macro world are 279 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:19,160 Speaker 1: like two children who refused to play nicely together. Again, 280 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:22,120 Speaker 1: these there's gonna be so many different examples when when 281 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: we come to talking about this, which is helpful, right 282 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 1: because and now we're thinking about two kids not playing 283 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 1: with each other. They say, no, one has managed to 284 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 1: make the two mathematically compatible in the context of the 285 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: Standard Model. But luckily for particle physics, when it comes 286 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:36,640 Speaker 1: to the minuscule scale of particles, the effect of gravity 287 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 1: is so weak as to be negligible. So only when 288 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:42,640 Speaker 1: we have matter in bulks, such as in ourselves or 289 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:45,800 Speaker 1: in planets does the effect of gravity dominate. So the 290 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 1: standard model still works well despite its reluctant exclusion of 291 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:52,840 Speaker 1: one of the fundamental forces. So again, two blind men, 292 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 1: varying ideas. It is the varying theories don't necessarily mess 293 00:15:57,400 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 1: well with one right, So they're saying, okay, we we 294 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 1: you know that we have a missing part here, but 295 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,800 Speaker 1: this is still sort of limping along in terms of 296 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:08,440 Speaker 1: bearing out what we think is happening, and we expect 297 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:12,520 Speaker 1: to find this other corresponding particle, so that out of 298 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 1: the way, and knowing that the Higgs boson is really 299 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:19,160 Speaker 1: important here, that w n C that we're talking about, Um, 300 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:24,239 Speaker 1: let's talk more specifically about this particle that is involved 301 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 1: in making the standard model work as best it can. 302 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: This particle uh emits what is called Higgs field. All right, 303 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 1: and this field and use all the particles that passed 304 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:39,720 Speaker 1: through it with mass, this this powerful thing called mass. 305 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: This almost I mean, it's it's difficult to imagine the 306 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:46,400 Speaker 1: universe without mass. We have to think when I'm talking 307 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:49,440 Speaker 1: about this field. This field is the size of the cosmos. 308 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:51,720 Speaker 1: It is that big of a field. It's not like, oh, 309 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 1: there's this field here, this one little doorway, this magic door, 310 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:57,760 Speaker 1: and every particle that goes through it became uh a 311 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 1: masked object. So it's a thing like a photon. The 312 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:02,560 Speaker 1: packet of light, right is going to go through this 313 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:04,920 Speaker 1: field because it doesn't have any mass, It's just gonna 314 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:09,399 Speaker 1: go through really quickly, right um. And then you'd have 315 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,080 Speaker 1: something like the W and Z bosons, these elementary particles 316 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:16,119 Speaker 1: that mediate the weak interaction, that force that we're talking about, 317 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:20,439 Speaker 1: would get bogged down with mass. Um. Assuming that the 318 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:23,920 Speaker 1: Higgs bosson really is existing in here. And and this 319 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:26,880 Speaker 1: is what we found, and this is what's happening. Everything 320 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:30,200 Speaker 1: that has mass gets it by interacting with this field. 321 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:33,120 Speaker 1: As you say, yeah, there's a good Uh. The analogy 322 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:35,640 Speaker 1: that I ran across the Everyway Light comes from John Gunion, 323 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:39,520 Speaker 1: physicist at the University of California at Davis, and he 324 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:42,800 Speaker 1: said that, in short, the Higgs field is a cosmos 325 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 1: sized swimming pool and everything is swimming in it. Particles 326 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:49,760 Speaker 1: that interact strongly with the Higgs field like a heavy 327 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 1: set man swimming with his clothes on, um, are heavier 328 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:55,920 Speaker 1: than particles that breathe through the pool like an a 329 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,960 Speaker 1: Limics Olympic swimmer in a wetsuit. Uh. I like the 330 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:03,000 Speaker 1: analogy very much, and I want to point out to 331 00:18:03,119 --> 00:18:05,719 Speaker 1: that there's a lot of confusion between the Higgs particle 332 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:08,240 Speaker 1: in the field. Um. They are two different things, obviously, 333 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,399 Speaker 1: but the Higgs particle is inseparable from its field, and 334 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 1: it is this exchange of particles with a background field 335 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:15,800 Speaker 1: that is giving the mass. And I know I keep 336 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 1: repeating it, but it's good to understand that that the 337 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:22,040 Speaker 1: muck that it's going through these exchanges. So what is 338 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: giving this stuff um some weight? Um. There is another 339 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:30,560 Speaker 1: analogy that I liked quite a bit. Um because yes, 340 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 1: just because it's super silly. Martin Archer of physicist at 341 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: Imperial Imperial College of London explains it as, Uh, think 342 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:42,719 Speaker 1: about Justin Bieber in a crowd of teenage girls. If 343 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,680 Speaker 1: he tries to move through them, they slow him down 344 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 1: and his speed decreases the more they're attracted to him. 345 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 1: So he's having a lot of exchanges in this field, 346 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,920 Speaker 1: as opposed to so and so, Uh through this crowd 347 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:57,200 Speaker 1: of teenage girls who just passes through very quickly, and 348 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:01,360 Speaker 1: it doesn't have any mass or isn't accumulating any mass 349 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 1: because this person is not having any exchanges with the 350 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 1: wildly gesticulating teenage girls. Yeah, alright, Yeah, I'm having a 351 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 1: hold back from throwing trying to throw in my own 352 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:16,680 Speaker 1: and out because we've we're already weighted down with with analogies. Yeah, Marver, 353 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:19,200 Speaker 1: we are interacting a lot with these analogy He's and 354 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:22,240 Speaker 1: gaining mass um by the second here. But I also 355 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 1: want to point out one more though, because I think 356 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 1: it's a good way to enter into this conversation about 357 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,159 Speaker 1: a large hattern collider. Turns out that Brian Cox, who 358 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:33,800 Speaker 1: was a particle physicist and reactor, not the older awesome actor, 359 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: but the younger Rocks are scientists. Such. Yeah, that's what 360 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: they call him. Um, he's funny, he's great, and you 361 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:43,680 Speaker 1: can see why he's doing so many talks on TED 362 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,119 Speaker 1: because he's a great science communicator. Uh. But he was 363 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 1: talking about CERN and trying to get funding for this 364 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:54,520 Speaker 1: and that They talked to Margaret Thatcher about it and 365 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:57,120 Speaker 1: she said, you know, if you can tell us what 366 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:01,880 Speaker 1: the deep this thing is, then you make it explainable 367 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:05,119 Speaker 1: to politicians, then um, then I will give you the 368 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 1: funding for it. But you've got to come up with 369 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:09,360 Speaker 1: some sort of analogy that works. Well, what what sort 370 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:11,640 Speaker 1: of analogy do you think they use? That They used 371 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:18,119 Speaker 1: the room analogy again, and they said, this really popular politician. Uh, 372 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:20,400 Speaker 1: you know that people really wanted to interact coming through 373 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:22,879 Speaker 1: the room getting slowed down. So I thought it was 374 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:26,040 Speaker 1: interesting that that's where that analogy was first used and 375 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: that's what helped to get the funding for certain Yes, 376 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 1: all right, well, hey, we're going to take a quick 377 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:34,359 Speaker 1: break and let let all of that gain some mass 378 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:36,119 Speaker 1: in your head, and then when we come back, we 379 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:39,720 Speaker 1: will bite once more into the chocolate covered journal cake 380 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:49,960 Speaker 1: or just delicious decadentge slice of cake. All right, we're back, 381 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:56,320 Speaker 1: so Higgs Higgs, Okay, I think we have a better understanding. Um. 382 00:20:56,359 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 1: You know, it's the forces of nature require that that 383 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:02,439 Speaker 1: mecan is m to make sense, that standard model, and 384 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:05,480 Speaker 1: Higgs to be a part of it, and as a byproduct, 385 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:07,879 Speaker 1: you and I exist, we think because and this is 386 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:10,520 Speaker 1: according to Brian Cox, because many of the particles that 387 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,120 Speaker 1: make us up get at least part of their mass 388 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:15,240 Speaker 1: through Higgs. So on a personal level, that's why it 389 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:17,680 Speaker 1: should matter to us. Um. But let's talk about the 390 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: large Hydrin collider because we wouldn't even be talking about 391 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:22,440 Speaker 1: this today if it weren't for for this giant machine 392 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:26,479 Speaker 1: that we talked about, this seventeen mile circumference, this beast 393 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,480 Speaker 1: lurking below. Yeah. Well we've got into it a little 394 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:31,920 Speaker 1: bit already, but I like to add just a little 395 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 1: more detail. Um. I mentioned that racetrack and you just 396 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:38,680 Speaker 1: mentioned as well, Um, you have seven thousand super conducting 397 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 1: magnets that are in there to steer the protons around. Okay, 398 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 1: so it's uh, it's it's not just a matter of oh, 399 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:48,360 Speaker 1: this is the core, you know, because you think back 400 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:51,159 Speaker 1: to like a like a little race cars and little courses. 401 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,560 Speaker 1: We have like that one little module that accelerates it 402 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:56,040 Speaker 1: and then it just goes around. Well, the accelerators are 403 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:59,080 Speaker 1: all around this ring. Well, and as you pointed out, 404 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: they're traveling at nine nine point one and one seven 405 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:05,119 Speaker 1: five the speed of light, right, and the l C 406 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:09,439 Speaker 1: LHC actually boost the protons energy by nearly sixteen times 407 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 1: and collides to them thirty million times a second for 408 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:15,639 Speaker 1: ten hours. So I mean this is, ah, this is 409 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:18,239 Speaker 1: quite a bashing. Um. So when we think about what 410 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 1: it means to have these collisions, that's the sort of 411 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,919 Speaker 1: um environment that they are creating in order to try 412 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:29,399 Speaker 1: to recreate this um, this idea of the Big Bang 413 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:32,920 Speaker 1: or the billions of seconds, what happened after the Big Bang. 414 00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:35,520 Speaker 1: This is why it's so specific and why they bashed 415 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:37,959 Speaker 1: them together this way. Yeah, I mean, in a way, 416 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: it's kind of like anything that happens on any given 417 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:43,360 Speaker 1: episode of MythBusters. They're like, oh, what happens with can 418 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: if two trucks uh sandwich vehicle? Can it actually you know, 419 00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:49,040 Speaker 1: completely crush it? So what do they do. They get 420 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 1: a couple of trucks in a car and they smash 421 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:55,840 Speaker 1: everything together. I mean, recreating, um, this catastrophic event for 422 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,960 Speaker 1: the purposes of studying how it works, and that's essentially 423 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 1: what's going on here, uh, except in a more complicated, 424 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 1: uh and smaller form. I like this idea of them 425 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:08,960 Speaker 1: being MythBusters because this is a playful group. By the way, um, 426 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: you may have seen the rap that they put out 427 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: about the large Headron collider. I love it. What are 428 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,320 Speaker 1: you gonna? I mean, it's it's good. It's just uh, 429 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:21,400 Speaker 1: it's uh, you know, there's just something it's you can't 430 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:25,400 Speaker 1: help a cringe a little bit. When when when scientists, Uh, 431 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:30,199 Speaker 1: it's so adorably geeky. It's adorably geeky, but it's you know, 432 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:33,400 Speaker 1: beastie boys. It's not. Oh no, but that's the charm 433 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: of it, right, well, yeah, it's the charm. You gotta 434 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:37,720 Speaker 1: love it. They're like, let's do this wrap about the 435 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:41,520 Speaker 1: large Headron collider, and actually they kind of speak like that, um, 436 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:44,840 Speaker 1: and the it's good. It's good. I'm not bastian. It's 437 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:47,879 Speaker 1: it's funny. No, no, it's good stuff. But but I 438 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:49,359 Speaker 1: think it's important for people in it, like they have 439 00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 1: a sense of humor. They're they're playing with us. They're 440 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,639 Speaker 1: not just stuffy scientists who are all you know. I 441 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:56,600 Speaker 1: don't care if the public understands what we're doing. You know, 442 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 1: it's not that kind of a deal. Yeah, they're very excited. 443 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:03,640 Speaker 1: One of the guys on the on the Atlas program 444 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,119 Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, did he wrap. No, he 445 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:08,119 Speaker 1: did not wrap. But he was a very very nice, 446 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:10,280 Speaker 1: very down to earth guy who was willing to talk 447 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:12,840 Speaker 1: with me on the phone and sort of break down UM, 448 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:14,920 Speaker 1: you know, what they were looking for and how the 449 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:17,919 Speaker 1: project works so well, and like they are obviously so 450 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,080 Speaker 1: excited about it, and that comes across and and it's 451 00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:22,560 Speaker 1: wonderful to see UM. But I want to talk a 452 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:25,840 Speaker 1: little bit more about the LHC and UM, this idea 453 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: of them smashing the particles together and how they actually 454 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,760 Speaker 1: discovered the signature of the Higgs boson. The theory was 455 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:37,480 Speaker 1: that um in this cosmic molasses normally uh you know, 456 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,320 Speaker 1: which would be invisible as Higgs field, it would produce 457 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,720 Speaker 1: its own quantum particle. If it was hit hard enough 458 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: with the right amount of energy, which is why they 459 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 1: have um that amount of energy that they've got running 460 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:50,640 Speaker 1: through there. The particle would be fragile and would fall 461 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:53,160 Speaker 1: apart within a millionth of a second and a dozen 462 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,320 Speaker 1: possible ways, depending on its own mass, and then they 463 00:24:56,359 --> 00:25:00,440 Speaker 1: find the signatures by being able to recognize the particles 464 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 1: that are produced in these collisions with their decay patterns. 465 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,000 Speaker 1: So these are the signatures that are left behind. And 466 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:09,840 Speaker 1: each court has many different ways of decaying, so there 467 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:12,840 Speaker 1: are several possible signatures and each one has to be 468 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:15,960 Speaker 1: carefully examined to determine which particles were present at the 469 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:19,159 Speaker 1: time of collision. So we're talking about anytime there's a collision, 470 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: just terabytes of data that is produced and then fed 471 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:26,680 Speaker 1: through computers and then combed through until they could find 472 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:30,240 Speaker 1: these really specific bumps um that we talked about. This 473 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,919 Speaker 1: I think it's like a hundred and thirty electrical vaults 474 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,560 Speaker 1: that they kept seeing over and over again or within 475 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 1: that range, and this is that ghost of a pattern 476 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:43,800 Speaker 1: that I talked about. Yeah, the machine, it's I mean, 477 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:46,040 Speaker 1: it's pretty fascinating. We we've talked before about kind of 478 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 1: the disappointment of like older visions of the future, and 479 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:52,600 Speaker 1: they would involve say, really advanced space stations that never 480 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:56,160 Speaker 1: actually came to fruition or at least have a confruition yet. 481 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:58,120 Speaker 1: But the LFC is one of those things where it's 482 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 1: an incredible piece of just kind of an age technology 483 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:02,760 Speaker 1: that is really pushing the boundaries of what we understand. 484 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:04,960 Speaker 1: And it's not necessarily the kind of thing that would 485 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,000 Speaker 1: have appeared in most science fictions, you know, it's but 486 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 1: it's just as exciting when you really really think about 487 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: what it's seeking to accomplish. That's just the pictures of 488 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:18,680 Speaker 1: Loan of the LHC are phenomenal. And you see how 489 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 1: mammoth this machine is, and it really does look like 490 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:24,600 Speaker 1: something from the future. It does look like this manifestation 491 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 1: of what we thought you might look like in the sixties, right, um, 492 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 1: in the nineteen sixties. But I think more importantly too, 493 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 1: if you step back and you look at this development 494 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:38,679 Speaker 1: and it does seem like, Okay, it's murky, you know, 495 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,399 Speaker 1: is it the particle? Is it not? You know, what 496 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 1: are the implications? Um? If you step back and you 497 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:47,240 Speaker 1: look at everything that we've accomplished so far, it does 498 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,840 Speaker 1: appear that we are in the cusp of a different 499 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:54,200 Speaker 1: understanding of our universe. Yeah, I've seen it, um. Compared 500 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:58,199 Speaker 1: to a Christopher Columbus, you know, his voyage to the 501 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:02,080 Speaker 1: New World, and you know he thought he was he 502 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:04,000 Speaker 1: was you know, he said sail for the East Indies 503 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:06,960 Speaker 1: and he landed and what he thought was Asia, and 504 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,879 Speaker 1: they're not to actually be the Bahamas. So we we 505 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:13,320 Speaker 1: have no idea. We were not really sure exactly what's 506 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,920 Speaker 1: gonna happen, you know, perhaps what what we're gonna find 507 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:18,280 Speaker 1: the Higgs. In other words, we're gonna land on and 508 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:20,720 Speaker 1: the Asian continent that we set out for, but it's 509 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:23,840 Speaker 1: entirely possible that we land in the Bahamas instead. But 510 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:28,359 Speaker 1: either way, our understanding of not the the world we 511 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 1: live in, and not the only out of the oceans 512 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:32,600 Speaker 1: and continents, but the the the actual fabric of the 513 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:34,960 Speaker 1: universe itself, our understanding of that is going to change. 514 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,680 Speaker 1: And that's yeah, that's exciting. Yeah, our map of the 515 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 1: cosmos is shifting. I think um Brian Cox again the 516 00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:46,880 Speaker 1: rock star physicist, UM paraphrase Carl Sagen, and he said, 517 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:50,160 Speaker 1: you know, look out Saturn, five rockets and spot Nik 518 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:53,159 Speaker 1: and DNA and literature and science. These are the things 519 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 1: that hydrogen atoms do when given thirteen point seven billion years. 520 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:00,400 Speaker 1: So he's saying like, let's back up said hands after 521 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:02,960 Speaker 1: the Big Bang and see what a hydrogen atom can 522 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:07,600 Speaker 1: do after thirteen billion years, And as you say that 523 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:10,960 Speaker 1: the sort of understanding that we gain. Um, So I 524 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:13,119 Speaker 1: thought that was a very nice way to put it. 525 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 1: That's why this is important to us. Well, do we 526 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:18,840 Speaker 1: want to take a little listen to to what we 527 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,959 Speaker 1: have some snified data here, um, which which we were 528 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:24,480 Speaker 1: talking about early sonified data is always a little uh. 529 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:27,040 Speaker 1: I mean, it's great, but it's also a little gimmicky 530 00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:29,120 Speaker 1: because you're just you're taking data and you're turning into 531 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:33,840 Speaker 1: into sound and you're not necessarily gaining an immense amount 532 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,359 Speaker 1: of insight into the original data by hearing it is sound, 533 00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:39,720 Speaker 1: but it's still real. It's really cool, and it is 534 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:43,040 Speaker 1: really cool because the data, I guess you could say 535 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:46,000 Speaker 1: that you could extrapolate this. The data is creating sort 536 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:49,920 Speaker 1: of notes. It's got math and musicality to it. So 537 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: if you were if when you tun it into to music, 538 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,959 Speaker 1: you do have I mean, I don't know, it's not 539 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:58,320 Speaker 1: this is not what Higgs sounds like when it sings, 540 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:01,000 Speaker 1: but it's kind of like what Higgs sound like if 541 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:03,640 Speaker 1: it were a score to the nineteen eighties science fiction 542 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:06,360 Speaker 1: film Let's See There You Go or in the Hands 543 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:09,000 Speaker 1: of Brianino exactly. It does sound a lot like some 544 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:11,600 Speaker 1: of the you know, some more ambient work. So so yeah, 545 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: let's listen to U the sound of Higgs. I like it. 546 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:27,840 Speaker 1: I could, I could listen to that. I listened to 547 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:30,680 Speaker 1: things that sound a lot like that. So so again, 548 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:36,280 Speaker 1: sonified data. Um, it's not necessarily really giving us a 549 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:37,720 Speaker 1: lot of insight, but is it? At the very least, 550 00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 1: it's cool when it can serve as kind of a 551 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 1: nice um spoonful of sugar, you know, on the medicine 552 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:46,120 Speaker 1: to get people interested in science. Well, and it's a 553 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,000 Speaker 1: manifestation of of Higgs in one way. Right, the data 554 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:52,920 Speaker 1: just went into your ear. So alright, let's see what's 555 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:56,240 Speaker 1: going on with the mail. Yes, call the robot over here, 556 00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:00,840 Speaker 1: and let's see what he has for us. All right, 557 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:03,440 Speaker 1: here's one from William William Wrightson and says, Hi, Robert 558 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:06,120 Speaker 1: and Julie in regards to the episode, is Matthew human 559 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:09,240 Speaker 1: invention or a human discovery? That was a good one? Um, 560 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:11,880 Speaker 1: he says, well, here is what I think neither. Let 561 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:14,520 Speaker 1: me explain Matthews. He used in a lot of animals, 562 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: including birds, which use very new these principle which states 563 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:20,520 Speaker 1: that fast moving air is lighter than slow moving air. 564 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:23,120 Speaker 1: I love the podcast, William, so it was kind of brief, 565 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:27,440 Speaker 1: but but it does. He brings up an interesting, um, 566 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:30,440 Speaker 1: I don't know, kind of a semiatic point, right, that 567 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:33,880 Speaker 1: that a human invention is a human to discover you 568 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 1: kind of have to remove the human from the argument 569 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:40,360 Speaker 1: to really get maybe a clearer grasp of how the 570 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:45,080 Speaker 1: universe were well and serendipitously, we're discussing mass again too, right, yeah, 571 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:48,200 Speaker 1: it's moving through air. All right. Here's one we heard 572 00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:51,240 Speaker 1: from a listener by the name of Tom out of Brooklyn, 573 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:54,320 Speaker 1: New York, and he wrote in and says the following, Hi, 574 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:57,280 Speaker 1: Robert and Julie, thanks for the killer episode about underwater 575 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:00,880 Speaker 1: recording and music. As a listener and fan, episode inspired 576 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 1: me to write in, I wanted to share a funny 577 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 1: experience with you guys related to this very topic. I'm 578 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:09,160 Speaker 1: a recording engineer by Perfection and co owned and operate Brooklyn, 579 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,200 Speaker 1: New York Spaceman Sounds. Can you tell where sci fi 580 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:15,760 Speaker 1: folks like you guys? Last year, when Hurricane Irene was 581 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:18,040 Speaker 1: descending upon us, we were informed that our studio was 582 00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:21,120 Speaker 1: in an evacuation in zone A, meaning in case of 583 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:24,400 Speaker 1: a hurricane or similar event, our premises would likely be flooded, 584 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,280 Speaker 1: and we would We were made to evacuate. Given our 585 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:30,280 Speaker 1: sizeable studio full of recording equipment and instruments, this was 586 00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:35,400 Speaker 1: a daunting endeavor. My band, called Title Arms More Space References, 587 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:37,760 Speaker 1: had a rehearsal in the studio the night prior to 588 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,960 Speaker 1: our evacuation and insisted on battering down the hatches ahead 589 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:45,000 Speaker 1: of time. Our conversation dissolved into dark jokes about going 590 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:47,560 Speaker 1: down with the ship and recording new tunes at the 591 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:52,320 Speaker 1: studio got flooded, facing certain electrocution. Uh, then this susper 592 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:56,360 Speaker 1: the question, wait can we record underwater again? For going responsibility, 593 00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:58,400 Speaker 1: we filled up the swap sink in the corner of 594 00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:01,040 Speaker 1: the room with water. We dropped one of our less 595 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 1: precious microphones into a plastic bag, sealed it up, plocked 596 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:07,040 Speaker 1: it in. I'll be damned if it wasn't the most 597 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:10,320 Speaker 1: awesome low frequency reverb sound I've ever heard mixed with 598 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:12,800 Speaker 1: a normal high fi condenser microphone in the room. It 599 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:17,000 Speaker 1: gave a monstrous, massive kick drum sound. Anyway, we didn't 600 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:19,760 Speaker 1: and we did end up evacuating the next day, and 601 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:21,920 Speaker 1: there wasn't a drop of water in the space despite 602 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:24,760 Speaker 1: all the work for not we were relieved there was 603 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:27,240 Speaker 1: no water damage. In fact, we learned a totally rad 604 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:30,240 Speaker 1: recording trip. Thanks Irene, just I just wanted to share 605 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:32,280 Speaker 1: this with you guys. This your episode reminded me of 606 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 1: it immediately. Thanks for the amazing undersee the mystery sounds 607 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:38,600 Speaker 1: and the usual array of killer space age conversation. To 608 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:41,240 Speaker 1: keep up the great work, and this is cool. After 609 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:43,080 Speaker 1: Tom sent this in, I was, you know, I'm like, well, 610 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 1: you gotta send me the file of that, you know, 611 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:47,920 Speaker 1: because he's gotten kind of excited about this. So he 612 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:50,120 Speaker 1: did send in a file. And what we're gonna listen 613 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:53,400 Speaker 1: to now, as he said, he had two microphones, one 614 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:56,440 Speaker 1: in the slop sync and and one this is out 615 00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:59,400 Speaker 1: in the open air and uh and so both of 616 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:03,280 Speaker 1: these microphone is recording, uh, the sounds of the that 617 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:05,840 Speaker 1: they were playing. So what we're gonna listen to here 618 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:09,040 Speaker 1: is just a brief clip that is a composed of 619 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:34,400 Speaker 1: sound from both of those microphones. So yeah, yeah, that's 620 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:36,800 Speaker 1: pretty cool. It's gonna be awesome. You can definitely hear 621 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: like you said that that that the watery, murky sort 622 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,520 Speaker 1: of bloopy lever thing going into the background. Well, and 623 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:44,120 Speaker 1: I just love too that this hurricane was about to 624 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:47,800 Speaker 1: hit and they're like, hey, speaking of what would happen 625 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:50,920 Speaker 1: if we dropped this microphone in here. I like it. 626 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:52,520 Speaker 1: It's something you tend not to see the most post 627 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:56,200 Speaker 1: apocalyptic or disaster films or whatever, you know, where it's like, oh, 628 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:59,239 Speaker 1: my goodness, the world is ending, let's cut an album. Right, 629 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:01,640 Speaker 1: So I'm so in the flow that let's just go 630 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:04,560 Speaker 1: with it. Yeah. So, so that's really cool. Thanks for 631 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:07,800 Speaker 1: sending that into all right, and if if you guys 632 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:11,080 Speaker 1: have anything you would like to share, be it sounds 633 00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:14,360 Speaker 1: you've recorded, sonified data, or just your general thoughts on 634 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:18,839 Speaker 1: particle physics, Higgs Higgs jokes, Higgs jokes, Uh, let us 635 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:21,920 Speaker 1: have those. We may or may not read them, depending 636 00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:25,000 Speaker 1: on how funny they are, right um, or how how 637 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:27,840 Speaker 1: weighty they are. Uh. You can you can let us know. 638 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:29,520 Speaker 1: You can share all this stuff with us on Facebook 639 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:31,680 Speaker 1: where we are we are stuff to blow your mind, 640 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:34,520 Speaker 1: and you can also find us on Twitter. Our handle 641 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:37,399 Speaker 1: there is blow the Mind and you can always drop 642 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:40,160 Speaker 1: us a note at blew the Mind at Discovery dot 643 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:49,080 Speaker 1: com for more on this and thousands of other topics 644 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:55,280 Speaker 1: is it, how stuff works? Dot com