The Universe on E8

"Whoa, duuuude, I'm a surfer! I surf! Watch me surfing! And I'll talk about some physics too! Whoa!!!"

In a really intriguing TED talk, Garrett Lisi talks about his theory of everything, describing all particles and interactions of said particles as manifestations of mathematics' 'most beautiful structure.' Can't say I'm completely sold on the idea, but it sure is pretty. And it fits in quite nicely with my habit of seeing patterns within patterns within patterns, always thinking there's probably some structure to it. The biggest difference, of course, is that I'm just dreaming and this guy's actually creating maths and theories with it.

And you might not be seeing a video, instead seeing two buttons asking which version of flash you're using. Apparently TED's player is ancient, and a piece of garbage. Just click on 8 and you should be able to see it.

All about ATLAS

What with the LHC preparing to open up and kill us all with its supermassive micro black holes of doom and destruction, finding the ATLAS channel on YouTube is a blessing. Aside from letting me enjoy some Holst, they've got plenty of extremely informative videos about how the ATLAS detector will work, and I highly recommend watching. Here, I'll make it easy to get started:

And as an added bonus, I couldn't help but notice some PROOF that ATLAS is evil and will destroy the planet. Here's a screenshot taken from their Episode 2 video. It's a slice of the detector:

Look familiar? I believe it does, and I believe it's so unmistakable that this can be considered official proof that dark forces are at work here, consciously plotting thee destruction of this entire planet.

The Big Picture: Large Hadron Collider nearly ready

I know that you all added The Big Picture to your RSS feeds when Daniel linked them back in June pointing out the Cassini and Chaiten Volcano collections. That's why you've already seen these amazing images of the LHC - right?

Image Caption:
View of the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) experiment Tracker Outer Barrel(TOB) in the cleaning room. The CMS is one of two general-purpose LHCexperiments designed to explore the physics of the Terascale, theenergy region where physicists believe they will find answers to thecentral questions at the heart of 21st-century particle physics. (Maximilien Brice, © CERN)


Or - if you're like me, you neglected to add TBP, have been missing out, and needed a friend to remind you of what you've been missing out on!

LHC & Neurochip Rap

Physicists rap to you from CERN and... somewhere with lots of statues to inform you about the awesomeness of the LHC, the Higgs Boson, extra dimensions, and imprinting rudimentary memories onto networks of living brain cells. Woah! I actually learned something.

These videos are simultaneously so awesome and so campy that it hurts. You've been warned.

Large Haldron Rap


N3UROCH!P Rap


Daniel discovered these gems, but he didn't post them (?). He has totally been scooped!