Wednesday marked the second-ever TEDxCERN, the event organized by the folks at CERN, the famed particle physics research center in Geneva, Switzerland, responsible for bringing us the World Wide Web, the Large Hadron Collider, and confirmation of the existence of the Higgs boson. You know, just a few minor things. TEDxCERN brought together a mix […]
On September 24, TEDxCERN was hosted by physicist Brian Cox (watch his TED Talk: “CERN’s supercollider“), and the world was welcomed to watch for free. Below, an appetite-whetter that originally ran on the TEDx Innovations Blog. Cosmic rays. Active galactic nuclei. Nucleosynthesis. For physicist Veronica Bindi, this is everyday vocabulary. A ten-year collaborator with AMS-02 — an experiment analyzing […]
In tough economic times, our exploratory science programs — from space probes to the LHC — are first to suffer budget cuts. Brian Cox explains how curiosity-driven science pays for itself, powering innovation and a profound appreciation of our existence. (Recorded at TEDSalon London 2010, April 2010 in London, England. Duration: 16:29) Watch Brian Cox’s […]
Tonight scientists at CERN are rebooting the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) in an attempt to recreate conditions fractions of a second after the Big Bang by crashing opposing proton beams, traveling at nearly the speed of light, into one another. Shortly after the LHC’s debut last September, a manufacturing glitch in wiring led to a […]
Last week, CERN announced that the world’s largest particle accelerator will power up again in November. However this time it will run on 3.5 trillion electron volts per beam, about half its expected energy level. Last year, the LHC shut down because of a fault between two superconducting bending magnets but recent tests have confirmed […]
Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory are using the IBM Blue Gene supercomputer to model supernovas, and New Scientist has published a gallery of snapshots from the fiery visualizations. The images uncover the beautiful symmetry — and chaos — flowing through these explosive events. Visit the gallery now >> TEDTalks stars Carolyn Porco, Brian Cox and […]
This was an especially lively week on the TED commenting front, as our community tackled debates on swine flu, race and politics, and globalization. These amazing discussions can get a little heated — so we appreciate that there always seems to be a voice of reason that emerges from the group to soothe frazzled nerves […]
Yesterday, CERN announced that the Large Hadron Collider (which spectacularly failed last September) could be turned on again as soon as this August. In this short talk from TED U 2009, physicist Brian Cox shares what’s new with CERN’s supercollider. He covers the repairs now underway and what the future holds for the largest science […]
Today, CERN’s been throwing a party to celebrate the 20th birthday of the web — which they date to the now-famous memo that Tim Berners-Lee wrote to his boss, sketching out a framework for a document-sharing system. As they tell it: Twenty years ago this month, something happened at CERN that would change the world […]
This one-minute promo video for Brian Cox’s upcoming BBC2 show about time made us smile: The show, “Horizon: What Time Is It?” airs in the UK on Dec. 2.
Dr. Stephen Hawking has made a $100 bet that the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, which throws its first beam tomorrow, will not find the elusive particle knows as the Higgs boson. What makes the Higgs the most highly sought-after particle in physics? In his TEDTalk, Brian Cox describes the Higgs particle “in language a […]
If all goes according to plan this week, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva will circulate its first beam on Sept. 10 — a step that’s been compared to “switching on” the machine, but that is, as you’d expect, much more complicated than that. Once the first beam is established, the next steps, […]
Brian Cox is not the only rock star at CERN: CERN Rap from Will Barras on Vimeo. Read more about it here >> PLUS: The LHC just keeps on inspiring art. Check out this new collection of astonishing photos of the LHC >>
Sometime towards the end of August or possibly early September, the world’s biggest and most ambitious scientific experiment will go live: the LHC, or Large Hadron Collider will be started up at CERN in Geneva. Particle physicist and TED favorite Brian Cox (watch his TED talk) has written a must-read essay explaining the science of […]
Tomorrow, Thursday, May 29, 2008, begins the World Science Festival: a four-day celebration of scientific exploration and discovery in New York City created by TEDster Brian Greene. Members of the TED team will be liveblogging the event right here on the TED Blog, keeping you updated on the latest from many TEDTalks favorites who will […]
“Rock star physicist” Brian Cox talks about his work on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Discussing the biggest of big science in an engaging, accessible way, Cox brings us along on a tour of the massive complex — and describes the vital role it’s going to play in understanding our universe. (Recorded March 2008 […]