What Is Antimatter?

Antimatter has been a popular concept in science fiction. But contrary to popular belief, antimatter has been observed and even created as early as 1932 and was theorized to exist years earlier.

What is Antimatter?

Antimatter are particles (antiparticles) that have the same mass as its counterpart but carry the opposite charge and quantum spin. Spin can be compared to how the Earth rotates on its axis while orbiting the Sun.

The antiparticle counter part of the electron is the positron. It carries a positive charge rather than a negative one. The proton's version is the anti-proton and it carries a positive charge.

There is also the antineutron despite the neutron having a neutral charge. This antineutron is made up of antiquarks (the antiparticle of the quark).

A Brief History of Antimatter

In 1929, two scientists in two different experiments observed a particle that exhibited a peculiar behavior. They saw what they believed to be an electron that travelled as if it had a positive charge. Electrons are negatively charged. The two physicists, Dmitri Skobeltsyn and Chung-Yao Chao, disregarded the anomaly and never pursued it afterwards.

Three years later, in 1932, Carl D. Anderson who was studying cosmic rays at the time noticed the same thing in his experiments. Believing this to be an electron but with a positive charge, he successfully created a positron by shooting gamma rays into other materials.

Anderson was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1936 for this discovery.

This validated Paul Dirac's theory from 1928 on the existence of positrons. At the time, he called them anti-electrons. It was Anderson who named them positrons; short for positive electrons.

The antiproton was discovered in 1955 by physicists Emilio Segrè and Owen Chamberlain while the antineutron by Bruce Cork in 1956.

New Method To Cool Down Antimatter Using Lasers Proposed

Researchers have proposed using lasers to cool down highly energetic anti-hydrogen atoms to better study its properties.

Antimatter is matter that carries an opposite charge and spin. An electron's antimatter counterpart is the positron. The electron is negatively charged while the positron is positively charged. The antimatter counterpart of a positively charged proton is a negative charge antiproton.

When antimatter collides with matter, they destroy each other and release energy in a process called annihilation. It must be noted that despite having opposite charges and quantum spin, both particles still carry positive energy.

In 1929, Dmitri Skobeltsyn and Chung-Yao Chao were the first to observe positrons in separate experiments. They noted that the observed particles behaved like electrons but curved in the opposite direction in an applied magnetic field. Neither scientists pursued the anomaly.

It was in 1932, that the positron was officially discovered by Carl D. Anderson, who also coined the term "positron". He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1936 for the discovery.

In 1995, physicists at CERN for the first time produced nine anti-hydrogen atoms. This was done by combining one positron and one antiproton. This was followed up by Fermilab which produced 100 antihydrogen atoms.

The resulting antihydrogen atoms proved to be too energetic or "hot" for it to be observed and studied carefully. Subsequent experiments like CERN's Antiproton Decelerator in 1999 managed to lower its energy levels but was still difficult to study.

In 2005, CERN formed the ALPHA collaboration (Antihydrogen laser physics apparatus) whose primary goal is to create less energetic ("cold") antihydrogen atoms that are better suited to study

2012 is the Year of CERN: Highlights, Discoveries and Breakthroughs in Science

Aside from discovering a new particle that possibly could be the Higgs, CERN has had other notable discoveries that are briefly enumerated below.

For science, the year 2012 definitely goes to to the European Organization for Nuclear Research or simply, CERN. 2012 marked its 58th anniversary and more importantly, it is the year that CERN have discovered a new particle they believe to be the Higgs particle.

CERN was originally named Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Council for Nuclear Research) in July 1953. Before it slightly changed its name but still retained its familiar abbreviation.

Aside from the Higgs boson, CERN has been a solid leader in science research contributing to major studies such as the construction of the Large Hadron Collider used in the search for the Higgs-Boson, the creation of the first anti-matter (anti-hydrogen in 1995) and even contributing its technology to solar power panels. These are but a few of the fruits of CERN's research.

Even the World Wide Web was invented in CERN's laboratories by Tim Berners-Lee and a computer created by Steve Jobs. CERN is not only about serious science, they also host an annual film festival showcasing films that deal with science related subjects, the CinéGlobe International Film Festival at CERN.

There even was a zombie movie that was filmed at the CERN complex by PhD students at CERN. The movie, Decay, is not endorsed nor is it authorized by CERN but they did allow the students to film there. (Check out the related links below to watch the whole movie).

Decay: Physicists At CERN Make Zombie Movie Filmed At The Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

Full movie can be viewed below.

In the light of the AAAS announcing the discovery of the Higgs particle as scientific breakthrough of the year and as a holiday treat, this is the movie Decay. Decay is a horror thriller made by PhD Students at CERN. It is set in the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN facility.

The premise is simple, a radiation leak from the Large Hadron Collider turns people into zombies. TO quote the line from the movie poster, "The greatest discovery in physics could be our last...".

It's a zombie movie made by physicists. Incorporating the discovery of the Higgs Boson in the storyline will certainly appeal to all science and physics buffs around, especially with the Large Hadron Collider as the backdrop.

There are no wild scientific theories in this movie. It's a simple radiation-leak-turns-people-into-zombies premise. That said, it has a decent storyline and the characters are pretty smart in the way the adapt to the situation (since they are physicists in real life!).

As for the performances, there's a reason actors aren't physicists and why physicists aren't actors. Performances are sub-par in some parts, but the star of the movie is the LHC. The film doesn't show much of it but knowing that it's the actual facility does give Decay points. The claustrophobic feel of the dark twisting tunnels alone give the film character.

Discovery of Higgs Particle Chosen As Scientific Breakthrough of the Year by the AAAS

The discovery of the Higgs Particle was chosen as the scientific breakthrough of the year by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

The announcement was made in Melbourne, Australia at the opening of the 2012 International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP).

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced its discovery of the Higgs particle in early July 2012. This discovery capped decades of research and hardwork in finding the elusive particle.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society. The AAAS is affiliated with 261 societies and serves around 10 million members.

The AAAS publishes the journals Science, Translational Medicine and Science Signaling. The peer reviewed journal, Science, has over 1 million readers and has the largest paid circulation of the world.

The mission of AAAS is to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy; international programs; science education; and more.

Light Pulses From Quark Gluon Plasma To Accurately Measure Time in Septillionths of a Second

Scientists have proposed using the light pulse emitted by a quark gluon plasma, a newly discovered state of matter, as a way of measuring time at precise levels of yoctoseconds which is a septillionth of a second (1x10^-24).

A quark gluon plasma (QGP) is a new state of matter that results from the collision of two nuclei. It is made up of two of matters building blocks, the quark and the gluon.

The image illustrates two lead atoms colliding to form a quark gluon plasma which in turn emits a short light pulse.

Quarks and Gluons

Quarks are one of the tiniest building blocks of matter. The proton and neutron inside an atom are made up of these quarks. A particle made up of quarks is called a hadron. Particles made up of quarks are called hadrons.

CERN Celebrates Its 58th Anniversary Bringing Humanity to the Forefront of Science and the Universe

CERN or the European Organization for Nuclear Research celebrates its 58th anniversary this year. Originally, CERN stood for Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Council for Nuclear Research).

In July 1953, 12 member states established the CERN convention. They envisioned creating a European laboratory focused on atomic physics which would unite European scientists together and also share in the cost of maintaining such a facility.

The 12 founding member states were Belgium, Denmark, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia. On 29 September 1954, CERN was ratified and the facility was renamed to its present name, The European Organization for Nuclear Research. Despite this, the original acronym, CERN, remained.

58 years later, CERN has been in the forefront of science contributing major studies such as the construction of the Large Hadron Collider used in the search for the Higgs-Boson, the creation of the first anti-matter (anti-hydrogen in 1995) and even contributing its technology to solar power panels. These are but a few of the fruits of CERN's research.

Even the World Wide Web was invented in CERN's laboratories by Tim Berners-Lee and a computer created by Steve Jobs. CERN is not only about serious science, they also host an annual film festival showcasing films that deal with science related subjects, the CinéGlobe International Film Festival at CERN.

Simple Beginnings

When the CERN convention was established, the members decided that the lab and research facility will be erected in Geneva. They picked a patch of green fields where, Nobel physicist Felix Bloch laid the first stone of CERN (together with a time capsule) in what then was the largest building site in Europe.

CERN has gone through a lot of changes. It was not the only nuclear and science facilities around. But through it all, it has emerged as the premier nuclear research facility in the 21st century. Until now, they tackle such subjects as faster than light neutrinos, the use of anti-protons for cancer therapy, and even studying the Sun for yet undiscovered particles called axions.

CERN, 58 years later, still delves into Nobel Prize winning research and studies to bring humanity to the forefront of science and the universe.

A Brief History of CERN

At the end of the Second World War, European science was no longer the crème de la crème. Following the example of the now mushrooming international organizations, a handful of visionary scientists imagined creating a European atomic physics laboratory. Raoul Dautry, Pierre Auger and Lew Kowarski in France, Edoardo Amaldi in Italy and Niels Bohr in Denmark were among these pioneers. Such a laboratory would not only unite European scientists but also allow them to share the increasing costs of nuclear physics facilities.

CERN Announces Discovery of Higgs Boson

An example of simulated data modeled for the CMS particle detector on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Here, following a collision of two protons, a Higgs boson is produced which decays into two jets of hadrons and two electrons. The lines represent the possible paths of particles produced by the proton-proton collision in the detector while the energy these particles deposit is shown in blue.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has announced the discovery of the Higgs Boson with a discovery level of 4.9 sigma. The Large Hadron Collider has been conducting the ATLAS experiment and the CMS Experiment.

A 5 sigma certainty means that it has just a 0.00003% probability that the result is due to chance. This is why most report the discovery as 99.9999% sure.

The announcement was done in Melbourne, Australia at the opening of the 2012 International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP). The 2012 ICHEP is this year's major particle physics conference.

The A Toroidal LHC Apparatus (ATLAS) and Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiments are the largest international scientific collaborations in history, involving more than 3000 scientists, engineers, and students from 172 institutes in 40 countries.

The CMS has the Higgs boson at a mass of 125.3 +/- 0.6GeV at 4.9 Sigma. ATLAS discovers the Higgs Mass at 126.5 GeV at 5 sigma. Previously, multiple independent measurements point to the region of 124 to 126 GeV. As such, the particle has been independently discovered by both ATLAS and CMS experiments.

As physicist Brian Cox puts it, "In simple language, CMS have discovered a new boson, and it behaves like the Standard Model Higgs... ATLAS and CMS have independently discovered a new particle mass ~ 126 GeV which behaves like SM Higgs"

"We have restricted the most likely mass region for the Higgs boson to 116-130 GeV, and over the last few weeks we have started to see an intriguing excess of events in the mass range around 125 GeV," explained ATLAS experiment spokesperson Fabiola Gianotti last December 2011.

The existence of the Higgs particle is a step towards the theory of the Standard Model. The Standard Model is a mathematical model that describes or explains all particle physics observed so far by physicists.

The Higgs boson within the Standard model explains why other elementary particles, except the photon and gluon, are massive. In particular, the Higgs boson would explain why the photon has no mass, while the W and Z bosons are very heavy.

A diagram summarizing the tree-level interactions between elementary particles described in the Standard Model. Vertices (darkened circles) represent types of particles, and edges (blue arcs) connecting them represent interactions that can take place. The organization of the diagram is as follows: the top row of vertices (leptons and quarks) are the matter particles; the second row of vertices (photon, W/Z, gluons) are the force mediating particles; and the bottom row is the Higgs boson.

The Higgs Boson is theorized to be the particle that determines the mass of an object. A boson is a class of particles and these particles form a field; the Higgs field. This is similar to how photons comprise the electromagnetic field.

By discovering the Higgs Boson, scientist may then understand how mass is obtained and why some elements have more mass than others.

Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity. Unlike weight, mass is not affected by gravity. An object has no weight in space but still has mass.

The Higgs Mechanism as proposed by Peter Higgs is that there is a Higgs field that are attracted to objects which slows them down, giving them mass. The more particles (Higgs Boson) of the field that the object attracts, the more mass it has. Furthermore, as the mass of an object approaches zero, the closer it gets to accelerating to the speed of light. This can be seen with light, since light has no mass and travels at that speed.

Regarding the discovery of the Higgs like particle, "It's an incredible thing that has happened in my lifetime," says Higgs

CERN To Give Update on Higgs Particle In ICHEP Conference

CMS collaboration Summer 2012 ©2012 CERN

************
CERN Announces Discovery of Higgs Boson
************

The Higgs Boson is theorized to be the particle that determines the mass of an object. A boson is a class of particles and these particles form a field; the Higgs field. This is similar to how photons comprise the electromagnetic field.

By discovering the Higgs Boson, scientist may then understand how mass is obtained and why some elements have more mass than others.

Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity. Unlike weight, mass is not affected by gravity. An object has no weight in space but still has mass.

The Higgs Mechanism as proposed by Peter Higgs is that there is a Higgs field that are attracted to objects which slows them down, giving them mass. The more particles (Higgs Boson) of the field that the object attracts, the more mass it has. Furthermore, as the mass of an object approaches zero, the closer it gets to accelerating to the speed of light. This can be seen with light, since light has no mass and travels at that speed.

CERN To Give Update on Higgs In ICHEP Conference

For the past few days, news have been abuzz about the announcement of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Melbourne, Australia on July 4 at the 2012 International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP). The 2012 ICHEP is this year's major particle physics conference where the ATLAS and CMS experiments will deliver the preliminary results of their 2012 data analysis.

The A Toroidal LHC Apparatus (ATLAS) and Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiments are the largest international scientific collaborations in history, involving more than 3000 scientists, engineers, and students from 172 institutes in 40 countries.

“Data taking for ICHEP concluded on Monday 18 June after a very successful first period of LHC running in 2012,” said CERN’s Director for Accelerators and Technology, Steve Myers. “I’m very much looking forward to seeing what the data reveals.”

Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNOLAB) International Laboratory for Particle Physics Inaugurated In Canada

The gigantic SNO+ detector, another installation at SNOLAB.
Credit: SNOLAB

In May 1999, the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory started operation. It was designed to detect solar neutrinos through its interaction with water.

To build the detector, a large deep cavity was constructed 6,800 feet (~2 km) underground in Vale Inco's Creighton Mine in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

In 2002, SNO received funding to expand its facilities into a general purpose laboratory. By March 2011, the entire lab entered operation as a "clean" space.

The original SNO equipment is being upgraded for use in future experiments. The facility currently hosts three experiments:

• The PICASSO: dark matter search,
• The POLARIS underground project(PUPS): observing seismic signals at depth in very hard rock, and
• The DEAP-1: dark matter search.

Although SNOLAB is accessed through a commercial mine owned by Vale Inco, The lab proper is maintained as a class-2000 cleanroom, with very low levels of dust and background radiation. The 6800 ft (2070 m) overburden of rock provides 6010 metres of water equivalent (MWE) shielding from cosmic rays, providing a low-background environment for experiments requiring high sensitivities and extremely low counting rates.

Université de Montréal students check a PICASSO dark matter detector at the SNOLAB laboratory.Credit: PICASSO Project

Professor François Schiettekatte of the Université de Montréal’s Department of Physics and the university’s representative on the SNOLAB Board explains the importance of SNOLAB. “Beyond the experiments such as PICASSO that may hopefully shine light on what the Universe’s dark matter is made of, there are many other experiments that will help us to better understand, better detect, and to in fact use neutrinos to observe phenomena that have been beyond us until this point in time. Thanks to neutrinos, we have been able to confirm and learn things about the way the heart of the Sun works. As neutrinos are practically unstoppable – even lead light-years thick wouldn’t do it – they escape from the heart of objects with little ‘alteration.’”

Inauguration of the SNOLAB International Laboratory for Particle Physics

The University of Montreal (UdeM) and its partners are launching SNOLAB, an underground particle physics laboratory that grew out of a collaboration between the university's researchers and their colleagues at Carleton, Queen's, Alberta and Laurentian.

The lab is situated 2km beneath the surface of the Earth and will enable researchers ton answer fundamental questions about the history and the composition of the Universe. They will also be able to use the infrastructure to conduct research into the nature of supernovas, our own star – the Sun – and Earth itself. SNOLAB will indeed be at the heart of a wide range of experiments, including PICASSO, an international project that is being lead by UdeM researchers. "In terms of current and future experiments, around half about the detection of dark matter in the Universe and 'weakly interacting massive particles' or 'WIMPs' in particular. PICASSO is one such research project. WIMPs are in fact particules that we do not know anything about and that would be a part of what we call 'new physics'," explained PICASSO Project Leader Professor Viktor Zacek, of the University of Montreal's Department of Physics. "In fact, the presence of dark energy and dark matter are proof that we are still very far from having completely understood physics and the world that surrounds us."

Europe's First Neutron Source, European Spallation Source (ESS), To Be Operational By 2019

A device that emits neutrons is called a Neutron Source. There are different kinds of neutron sources from a small hand held radioactive source to large neutron research facilities operating research reactors and spallation sources.

The large facility neutron source such as the ones found in Oxfordshire, utilizes a low energy reaction coupled with a high-current, variable-pulse-width proton accelerator to produce either short or long neutron pulses.

Sweden to host a new neutron source

By 2019, Europe will have its first operational Neutron Source. Currently under development, its aim is to produce beams of neutrons that can penetrate into the heart of matter without damaging it and reveal its secrets.

The European Spallation Source (ESS) will be constructed starting next year, at the southern end of Sweden, in a town called Lund.

“The ESS is the result of an idea that began 20 years ago!” underlines Mats Lindroos, in charge of the ESS Accelerator Division. “Today, 17 European countries support the project, including Sweden, Denmark and Norway, who together account for 50% of the construction funding.”

The design of the neutron source is a collaboration of different nations that participated in the project. The facility also boasts of staff, technology, expertise, and skill from European research centres such as CERN. “CERN is participating in the development of the entire accelerator part,” explains Christine Darve, the engineer responsible for the cryomodule portion. “For the ESS target, which will be made of tungsten, we are cooperating above all with nuclear physics experts.”

CERN News: Large Hadron Collider Achieve Record Energy Collision of 8 TeV

It was announced by CERN in early 2012 that the LHC will run with a beam energy of 4 TeV. That is 0.5 TeV higher than the previous two years of LHC experiments. This decision was taken by CERN management following the annual performance workshop held in Chamonix last week and a report delivered today by the external CERN Machine Advisory Committee (CMAC).

An electron volt (eV) is a measure of amount of energy gained by the charge of a single electron moved across an electric potential difference of one volt. One trillion electron volts is called a teraelectronvolt or simply a TeV.

The exact measurement of a Tev in is 1 teraelectron volt = 1.60217646 ×10-7 joules.

Why is the amount of energy or TeVs important to using the Large Hadron Collider? Based on Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, E=MC2, energy is the product of mass multiplied by the speed of light squared. By colliding particles running at the speed of light in the LHC and measuring the energy released, the LHC can detect fluctuations in energy that may signify a particle most particularly the Higgs Boson. By measuring the energy released, one can deduce the mass of the escaping particles.

LHC physics data taking gets underway at new record collision energy of 8TeV

At 05 April 2012, 0:38 CEST, the LHC shift crew declared ‘stable beams’ as two 4 TeV proton beams were brought into collision at the LHC’s four interaction points. This signals the start of physics data taking by the LHC experiments for 2012. The collision energy of 8 TeV is a new world record, and increases the machine’s discovery potential considerably.

“The experience of two good years of running at 3.5 TeV per beam gave us the confidence to increase the energy for this year without any significant risk to the machine,” explained CERN1’s Director for Accelerators and Technology, Steve Myers. “Now it’s over to the experiments to make the best of the increased discovery potential we’re delivering them!”

Although the increase in collision energy is relatively modest, it translates to an increased discovery potential that can be several times higher for certain hypothetical particles. Some such particles, for example those predicted by supersymmetry, would be produced much more copiously at the higher energy. Supersymetry is a theory in particle physics that goes beyond the current Standard Model, and could account for the dark matter of the Universe.

New Advance in Antimatter: CERN ALPHA Group Measures Antihydrogen

ALPHA stands for Antihydrogen Laser Physics Apparatus. It is an international collaboration based at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research). ALPHA's objective is the stable trapping of antihydrogen atoms. The antihydrogen is the antimatter counterpart of the hydrogen atom. By precise comparisons of hydrogen and antihydrogen, the experiment hopes to study fundamental symmetries between matter and antimatter.

The hydrogen atom is the simplest atom with only one electron and one proton. Hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. The antihydrogen atom is made up of a positron and antiproton. The positron is the antimatter version of the electron while the antiproton is the antimatter version of the proton.

The ALPHA experiment is designed to trap neutral antihydrogen in a magnetic trap, and conduct experiments on them. ALPHA has three major compoonents:

• The Penning Trap: Holds the positrons and antiprotons before it used to make antihydrogen
• The Atom Trap: Traps and holds the antihydrogen atoms
• The Annihilation Vertex Imaging Detector: Detects the antihydrogen atoms and allows them to annihilate each others and finds the point of annihilation

Using the Antihydrogen Laser Physics Apparatus, the group has announced that they have measured the spectrum of the antihydrogen atom.

In a paper published by the journal Nature, the ALPHA collaboration at CERN reports an important milestone on the way to measuring the properties of antimatter atoms. This follows news reported in June last year that the collaboration had routinely trapped antihydrogen atoms for long periods of time. ALPHA’s latest advance is the next important milestone on the way to being able to make precision comparisons between atoms of ordinary matter and atoms of antimatter, thereby helping to unravel one of the deepest mysteries in particle physics and perhaps understanding why a Universe of matter exists at all.

“We’ve demonstrated that we can probe the internal structure of the antihydrogen atom,” said ALPHA collaboration spokesman, Jeffrey Hangst, “and we’re very excited about that. We now know that it’s possible to design experiments to make detailed measurements of antiatoms.”

CERN UPDATE: ICARUS Experiment Indicate Neutrino Speed Consistent With Speed Of Light

Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. That is one of the basic foundations of physics. Last year, an experiment called OPERA (Oscillation Project with Emulsion-Tracking Apparatus) and conducted by physicists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) found an anomaly where neutrinos seem to be travelling faster than the speed of light. The measurements they took suggested that the neutrinos were travelling 60 billionths of a second faster than light speed.

The OPERA experiment, a collaboration between the CERN physics laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Gran Sasso, Italy, timed particles called neutrinos traveling through Earth from the physics laboratory CERN to a detector in an underground laboratory in Gran Sasso 730 kilometers (450 miles) away.

After the discovery was made public, scientists all over the world looked at the the data and tried to explain this occurrence. Now, the Italian Gran Sasso laboratory where the OPERA experiment originated have released their findings through their ICARUS experiment.

The ICARUS experiment at the Italian Gran Sasso laboratory has today reported a new measurement of the time of flight of neutrinos from CERN to Gran Sasso. The ICARUS measurement, using last year’s short pulsed beam from CERN, indicates that the neutrinos do not exceed the speed of light on their journey between the two laboratories. This is at odds with the initial measurement reported by OPERA last September. The ICARUS program concerns the usage of Liquid Argon (LAr) detector for studies of neutrinos from CNGS beam. ICARUS stands for Imaging Cosmic And Rare Underground Signals.

CERN News: Solar Thermal Panels Made With CERN Technology

A solar thermal collector is a solar collector designed to collect heat by absorbing sunlight.

Solar Thermal Panels are usually refers to hot water panels but the term could also be associated with more omplex installations such as solar parabolic, solar trough and solar towers or simpler installations such as solar air heat. These complex collectors are generally used in solar power plants where solar heat is used to generate electricity by heating water to produce steam which drives a turbine connected to an electrical generator. The simpler collectors are typically used for supplemental space heating in residential and commercial buildings.

Photovoltaics (PV) is a method of generating electricity by converting solar radiation (sunlight) into direct current electricity by using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect. These semiconductors are also called solar panels and are composed of a group of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material. Materials presently used for photovoltaics include monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, and copper indium gallium selenide/sulfide. Due to the growing demand for renewable energy sources, the manufacturing of solar cells and photovoltaic arrays has advanced considerably in recent years.

At Geneva International Airport, SRB Energy delivered the first of the solar panels that will form one of the largest solar energy systems of Switzerland. Ultimately, some 300 high-temperature solar thermal panels will cover a surface of 1200 square metres on the roof of the airport’s main terminal building. The panels, which will be used to keep the buildings warm during the winter and cool in the summer, are derived from vacuum technology developed at CERN for particle accelerators.

“We are delighted that Geneva International Airport has opted for this technology,” says Cristoforo Benvenuti, the inventor of the panels, who has been working on vacuum technology at CERN since the 1970s. “The panels emerged from vacuum technologies that were developed for fundamental physics purposes, and it is highly gratifying to see them put to use for renewable energy.”

"This new generation of solar panels is an innovative green technology that is the fruit of a partnership between CERN and industry", explains Enrico Chesta, head of the Technology Transfer Section of CERN's Knowledge Transfer Group. “Like medicine and information technology, energy is becoming a domain in which accelerator and detector technology is finding successful applications.”

Films Inspired By Science: 3rd CinéGlobe international film festival at CERN

In the past several weeks, the selection of CERN's 3rd CinéGlobe international film festival committee has watched more than 1450 submitted films from 107 countries. It amounted to 10 days, 15 hours, and 38 minutes of film in total. It was a difficult process to select the 55 films as the committee were impressed by the quality, originality, and diversity of the films submitte.

After announcing the selected films, the 3rd CinéGlobe international film festival will be held from 27 March to 1 April.

This 3rd edition will see 55 short films "inspired by science" in competition, including fictional pieces as well as documentaries. Selected from a long list of 1,400 short films from 107 countries, all the entrants have one thing in common - telling stories inspired by science and technology. The theme of this year's festival is "Infinitely interconnected", casting the spotlight on how interconnected the modern world has become.

CERN is the ideal location for such an event. As a world centre for fundamental research, CERN fuels and promotes exchanges between science and society.

As CERN Director-General Rolf Heuer underlines, "CERN is well known for its excellence in science. But many people working here also excel in the transfer of knowledge to society. The CinéGlobe festival is one such example, as its aim is to promote a broader understanding of science by the general public."

Helix Nebula - The Science Cloud: Business and Science Tie Up For European Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a service where all computer applications, data, and software are provided to computers and other devices as a metered service over a network or the internet. This does away with installing it directly to the computer. Everything is stored on a server or cloud for computers to access.

A consortium of leading IT providers and three of Europe’s biggest research centres announced a partnership to launch a European cloud computing platform. "Helix Nebula - the Science Cloud", will support the massive IT requirements of European scientists, and become available to governmental organisations and industry after an initial pilot phase.

The three research centers are: The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), and The European Space Agency (ESA).

The partnership is working to establish a sustainable European cloud computing infrastructure, supported by industrial partners, which will provide stable computing capacities and services that elastically meet demand.

This pan-European partnership across academia and industry is in line with the Digital Agenda of the European Commission and will foster innovation for science and create new commercial markets.

ICTR-PHE Conference Uniting Physics, Biology, and Medicine To Take Place in Geneva

The first joint International Conference on Translational Research in Radio-Oncology and Physics for Health in Europe (ICTR-PHE) will take place in Geneva on February 27 up to March 2, 2012.

The conference will be launched in Geneva, uniting physics, biology and medicine for better healthcare. Starting on 27 February, the ICTR-PHE conference brings together the long established International Conference on Translational Research in Radiation Oncology, which has been held every three years from 2000, with CERN1’s Physics for Health workshop, which was launched in 2010. A press conference will be held at 10:15 on 29 February at the Geneva International Conference Centre (CICG), and there will be a public lecture from renowned human oncologist Søren M. Bentzen at 6:30pm on Tuesday 28 February.

“We hope to create a global network in which information between scientists from the various disciplines can be successfully exchanged,” said Jacques Bernier, conference co-chair and head of Radiotherapy at Geneva’s Genolier Clinic. “The common effort of all the parties involved will maximize the effect of the therapy and improve the quality of life of patients.”

One of the activities in the conference is a public talk on Treating cancer in the 21st century: biology, physics and genomics, Søren M Bentzen, Geneva International Conference Centre (CICG), Tuesday 28 February. The talk will be in English with simultaneous translation into French.

The public lecture will be held on Tuesday 28 February on new ways of treating cancer. The lecture will particularly focus on how collaboration between different scientific disciplines, such as physics and biology, is producing new technologies in fields like biomedical imaging. As a result of this and other developments, progress is being made in the study and understanding of cancer, and cure rates and quality of life in cancer survivors is being improved.

CERN Update: Faster Than Speed of Light May Be Due To Hardware Fault

**************
LATEST CERN NEWS
18 March 2012
CERN UPDATE: ICARUS Experiment Indicate Neutrino Speed Consistent With Speed Of Light
**************


CERN (European Center for Nuclear Research) released a statement noting that their OPERA experiment revealing neutrinos travelling faster than light may be due to errors in their devices.

The short statement attributes to the error to:

1. An Oscillator responsible for time stamps to the GPS synchronization
2. A disfunctional optical fiber connector

CERN will recalibrate and observe these two devices when they resume OPERA experiments in May 2012.

CERN Released the following announcement:

The OPERA collaboration has informed its funding agencies and host laboratories that it has identified two possible effects that could have an influence on its neutrino timing measurement. These both require further tests with a short pulsed beam. If confirmed, one would increase the size of the measured effect, the other would diminish it. The first possible effect concerns an oscillator used to provide the time stamps for GPS synchronizations. It could have led to an overestimate of the neutrino's time of flight. The second concerns the optical fibre connector that brings the external GPS signal to the OPERA master clock, which may not have been functioning correctly when the measurements were taken. If this is the case, it could have led to an underestimate of the time of flight of the neutrinos. The potential extent of these two effects is being studied by the OPERA collaboration. New measurements with short pulsed beams are scheduled for May.

Large Hadron Collider Will Run At Higher Beam Energy Level of 4 TeV

An electron volt (eV) is a measure of amount of energy gained by the charge of a single electron moved across an electric potential difference of one volt. One trillion electron volts is called a teraelectronvolt or simply a TeV.

The exact measurement of a Tev in is 1 teraelectron volt = 1.60217646 ×10^-7 joules.

Why is the amount of energy or TeVs important to using the Large Hadron Collider? Basically it boils down to Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, E=MC². Energy is the product of mass multiplied by the speed of light squared. By colliding particles running at the speed of light in the LHC and measuring the energy released, the LHC can detect fluctuations in energy that may signify a particle most particularly the Higgs Boson. By measuring the energy released, one can deduce the mass of the escaping particles.

CERN1 today announced that the LHC will run with a beam energy of 4 TeV this year, 0.5 TeV higher than in 2010 and 2011. This decision was taken by CERN management following the annual performance workshop held in Chamonix last week and a report delivered today by the external CERN Machine Advisory Committee (CMAC). It is accompanied by a strategy to optimise LHC running to deliver the maximum possible amount of data in 2012 before the LHC goes into a long shutdown to prepare for higher energy running. The data target for 2012 is 15 inverse femtobarns for ATLAS and CMS, three times higher than in 2011. Bunch spacing in the LHC will remain at 50 nanoseconds.