Environmental Graffiti

Shelter: Image by: Santo Chino

When you hit the town in a major world city, you look for certain things in the bars and clubs you go to: perhaps a cool underground vibe; or a place that you know is safe and relaxed even if otherwise the night out is blast. Well, in Shanghai you can be doubly sure of ticking these boxes by frequenting one of two nightspots there that in times past led a rather different life as a bomb shelter.

Underground vibe: Shelter

Image by: the tattooed tentacle

The straightforwardly named Shelter is a cavernous, down to earth dive that draws a mixed crowd and isn’t recommended for the claustrophobic. Clubbers enter a narrow room containing the bar and dance floor via an even narrower winding passageway. The low curved ceilings are constant reminders of the purpose this space once served.

Ooh la la: drag party at Shanghai Studio

Image by: monkeyking

The city’s other best-kept secret hotspot comes in the shape of Shanghai Studio. It’s less dingy and earthy than Shelter, and not quite as proud of its previously more sheltered existence. Inevitably, though, it’s a subterranean labyrinth of a club to explore, this time with art adorning the corridors, and catering to a more flamboyant clientele.

Burrowing back in time

Image by: Shamus Sillar

The story behind Shanghai’s hidden haunts goes back to the bygone era of 1930s, as Newsweek reported this week. Bomb shelters were dug when the Japanese carried out air raids during their conflict with China, and through the later years of Civil War and then Cold War insecurity many more were built.

Industry to art: steel factory turned sculpture space

Image by: Lowcola

According to Newsweek, these days things are different, and the repurposing of abandoned structures in Shanghai isn’t limited to bomb shelters. A recent design revolution in the city has seen a slaughterhouse reborn as an art hub, flourmills moulded into art galleries, warehouses revamped as rock clubs, and a steel factory reshaped into a sculpture space. Yes, as China opens up to the world, industry is moving to the city’s outskirts, while creativity and commerce take centre stage.

A picture preserved: old cinema still in use

Image by: meckleychina

Good architects appreciate the value of preserving the original character of a building even when it is restored to perform a new, modern function. If the history of the Shanghai Studio and Shelter nightclubs has survived their respective transformations, then thankfully no nights here will ever bomb out badly.

Shanghai old and new

Image by: Kunal and Sumona

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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All too often we forget the hardship experienced by generations past, especially during certain wars, yet some people have a profound way of reflecting on times gone by, presenting their take on the world in a new light.

These haunting, hybrid images of past and present St Petersburg – formerly known as Leningrad – are the works of Sergei Larenkov. After studying old images of the city, Larenkov visited the same spots, capturing them on film. He then digitally superimposed the old image over new, producing these eerie and thought-provoking shots.

Like ghosts captured forever on film the scenes depict all too clearly a harshness that can result only from times of war. The 900-day Siege of Leningrad, also known as The Leningrad Blockade, lasted from September 9, 1941, to January 27, 1944 – just over 65 years ago – and was “one of the longest and most destructive sieges of major cities in modern history, and second most costly,” according to Wikipedia sources.

English Russia had a bit more to say:

“During nine hundred (!) days a few million people in the city of Leningrad suffered from cold and hunger, being deprived of almost all supplies of food and fuel. Many thousands died, those who survived remember this not very willingly. The situation with food was so heavy, no food was sold/distributed among people except a few grams (not even tens or hundred grams) of bread, and not each day, that people had to eat stuff that they would never eat in normal life, like making soups of leather boots (because leather is of animal origin) or boiling the wallpaper because the glue with which they were attached to walls contained a bit of organic stuff. Of course many occasions of cannibalism occurred.”

Although the blend of the two images seems natural, it’s hard not to ignore the colorful boundary of the present and focus totally on the black and white scene of the past. Each image demands the viewer to stop and contemplate what life must have been like in Leningrad during WWII. The difference between life now and then in these moving images is distinct, and deserves the attention of an undoubtedly more privileged audience.

Visit English Russia to see more amazing images by Sergei Larenkov.

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Image: E journeys

Every few decades, the army worm Spodoptera frugiperda strikes somewhere in the world, in the form of millions of caterpillars creating havoc among crops. This time, it has hit Liberia, where the situation has gotten so bad that Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Liberian president declared a state of emergency. International experts are gathering in Monrovia to aid the government’s containment, elimination and prevention efforts. And this is only the first wave; it is expected that the second wave of the hungry pests will be even more devastating.

Army worm nest that has taken over a host plant; the black dots are caterpillar faeces

Image: Anna Perkins

Around 400,000 people in more than 100 villages have been affected so far. And not only by the complete devastation of crops like plantains, bananas, coffee and cocoa, but also because the drinking water, taken from creeks and rivers, has been contaminated by the caterpillars’ faeces. The Liberian Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) is also advising the population not to eat dead chickens, birds or fish as they may have been infested too.

Both Liberia and neighbouring Guinea, which is also affected, have carried out aerial sprays with insecticide but it is feared the worst is yet to come as the caterpillars are reaching pupa stage. As pupae, they will stay in the soil for 7-12 days before they emerge as adult moths that can lay up to 1,000 eggs a week, ready to grow into new caterpillars within days. Predicts Ibrahim Shamie, an expert from at-risk Sierra Leone: “We had the experience in Sierra Leone, in 1979, about 30 years ago… When the second emergence occurs, that will be the biggest population.”

Sometimes even the army worm gets infested: parasitic wasp larvae emerging from army worm

Image: Agriculture Western Australia

Like true camouflage experts, army worms feed at night and hide during the day, so the problem is often not noticed until severe damage occurs. When the caterpillar invasion started in Liberia about two weeks ago, a seven-person MOA-team had been deployed, which has now grown to 35 people. It is headed by entomologist Gregory Tarplah, who said: “The swarm of worm-like caterpillars are consuming all vegetation in their path and are polluting all creeks and running water with their faeces.”

What boggles the mind is how exactly they do the latter – and here the research is very thin. One wonders whether the caterpillars produce more excrement than usual because of the abundance of food, or whether it’s just the sheer numbers that produce such a heap of you-know-what. Then there’s the question of how all the excrement gets bundled together so that it can clog rivers and creeks? Basically, how much faeces can a caterpillar that is only five cm (two inches) long produce? A whole lot, it seems.

Source: 1, 2, 3, 4

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Milky Way over Mauna Kea Volcano
Photograph courtesy of Wally Pacholka (TWAN) – NASA

Our galaxy has been photographed many times, but this just released NASA panorama is a beauty! The Milky Way is a large spiral galaxy that contains 200-400 billion stars and is 13.2 billion years old.

On Earth, we are inside the galactic disk of the Milky Way, which is the arc of uncountable ‘milky stars’ we see in the night sky. Just below the great swathe of stars in this photo is Jupiter shining very brightly. Moonlight faintly illuminates the observatory complex of the University of Hawaii on the Big Island (Hawaii) that is on the summit of the extinct volcano of Mauna Kea. The large caldera in the dark foreground is the two mile high Haleakala volcano on Maui that also has an important astronomy observatory on its summit.

At 4,205 meters (13,796 ft) above sea level, Mauna Kea is the highest island mountain in the world and the Observatory is above 40 percent of the Earth’s atmosphere. Extremely dry, stable air and favorable atmospheric conditions allow for many superb observation nights throughout the year. The complex has 13 telescopes operated by astronomers from 11 countries. Among the exceptional equipment are the largest telescopes in the world for optical/infrared and dedicated infrared observations, and also the largest sub-millimeter telescope in the world. The combined light-gathering power of the telescopes on Mauna Kea is 15X greater than that of the legendary Palomar telescope in California – for many years the world’s largest – and 60X greater than that of the Hubble Space Telescope.

So many stars and galaxies to study, and so little time! At the end of every day, let us be renewed by a cosmic beauty that is beyond words.

Sources 1, 2, 3

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Image from Frösö Zoo via DRB

If you’re a sucker for cute furry animals then you’ll be in for a treat over at Dark Roasted Blend, who this week have collated a spread of some of the not-so-well-known primates of the planet.

The “Aww” inducing list includes the titchy thumb-sized pygmy marmoset monkey, named after the French word marmouset, which means shrimp, or dwarf, “They range in length from 5 to 6 inches not including the tail, which is an amazing 6 to 8 inches,” say DRB. There are 18 recorded species of marmoset and, unlike other monkeys they have claws rather than nails, tactile hairs on their wrists and lack wisdom teeth, making them slightly more primitive than other monkeys.

Rare Albino Pygmy Marmoset Twins

Image from Frösö Zoo via National Geographic

Pygmy marmosets are found in the rainforests of Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Columbia. They live in the upper canopy of the forest, no doubt to steer clear of bigger, heavier predators, and survive on an omnivorous diet of fruit, leaves, insects, small reptiles and their favorite nibble, tree sap. Specialized incisors enable the marmoset to gnaw through even the toughest tree bark, allowing easy access to their favorite gummy fluid.

Adult Marmoset Monkey

Image via Davidson College

Living in groups of two to six, usually consisting of a breeding pair plus their offspring, marmoset families are fiercely territorial often defending an area of up to 100 acres – that’s a lot of rainforest for the midget mammals. Don’t expect to see them in the wild though; they’re nippy little blighters and move like lighting through the trees, so you’ll have to make do with these sweet pics instead.

Source 1, 2, 3

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Image of Akashi Bridge by Shenghung Lin

The following pictures of bridges around the world should be viewed with caution because they might cause serious travel fever. The bridges’ vital stats are not only amazing because they are the world’s tallest and longest; they also fulfill important environmental promises – cutting down traffic, shortening trade routes, connecting countries, or making car, train, bicycle or pedestrian travel not only faster but also so much more stylish!

1. The Magdeburg Water Bridge: 918 m long, 34 m wide and 4.25 m deep

Image: Unknown photographer

At first glance, the Water Bridge in Magdeburg, Germany, seems nothing special; just another canal bridge. But look again and it’s a water bridge across water, forming a water intersection that is the biggest water crossing in Europe! The world’s largest water bridge, with a span of 106 m between its pillars, opened in October 2003, on the back of five years of construction, 24,000 tons of steel, and 68,000 m³ of reinforced concrete. Regaining the construction cost of €500 million probably won’t take long as the bridge shortens travel times for ships considerably and eases traffic on other routes. Before the opening of the water bridge, ships moving between the Midland Canal and the Elbe-Havel Canal had to make a 12-km detour through the Rothensee lock, along the River Elbe and back up Niegripp lock. Now the bridge connects Hannover and Berlin directly and also Berlin’s inland harbour network with the ports along the Rhine. A double lock was constructed to descend to the Elbe-Havel Canal and a single Rothensee lock was constructed at the other end of the water bridge to descend to the Elbe and the Magdeburg harbour, making it independent of water levels and therefore navigable even for large ships.

2. The Millau Viaduct in France: 2,460 m long, 32 m wide and 343 m high at the highest point

Image: Le Viaduc de Millau

The Millau Viaduct in France is the world’s tallest vehicular bridge. In 2004, after 17 years of planning and work, it was finally completed and formed the missing link in the A75, connecting Paris and Perpignan. Cost: Euro 400 million, but that should be recovered fast at a cost of €3.09 for bicycles, €5.50 for cars and €27.50 for trucks (off season). However, according to the web site, the route saves more than one hour when travelling from Paris and almost €50 in tolls. The state-of-the art construction required 85,000 m3 of concrete and used the latest techniques like laser, GPS, sliders, self-climbing formwork, specific surface coats and high performance concrete.

3) The Oresundbridge from Denmark to Sweden, with the Danish islands Saltholm on the left and Peberholm on the right; on the horizon is Malmö

Image: Dpol

The Oresundbridge (official name: Øresundsförbindelsen) connecting Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden leaves one puzzled, as suddenly a 4-line highway and a 2-track railway seem to disappear into the sea. Is it a bridge? Is it a tunnel? It’s both, making it, what, maybe a brunnel or a tridge? In any case, it’s definitely the longest combined road-and-rail bridge in Europe. Plans for a bridge at this location had been in the works for the last hundred years but it was finally opened in July 2000, bringing Swedes and Danes closer together and increasing tourism. The bridge is 8 km long, plus there’s 4 km of tunnel and another 4 km of the man-made island Peberholm; altogether a stunning, 16-km-drive.

Here’s another stunning view of the Oresundbridge that makes it look like a ski ramp:

Image: Lacagey

4) The Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam is 808 m long, cost €75 million to construct and was opened in September 1996

Image: Unstudio

The Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam does not need to hide behind the Oresundbridge as it can boast a record of its own: its southern part is the largest and heaviest bascule bridge in Western Europe and has the largest panel of its type in the world, allowing tall ships to pass. The bridge is nicknamed “The Swan” because of its 139 m high asymmetrical pylon that overlooks the city like the graceful neck of a swan.

5) The Jadukata Bridge, the longest span cantilever bridge in India with a central span of 140 m, stretches so naturally from one shore to the other that it seems to grow out of the rich vegetation itself

Image: Gammon India

Leaving Europe to move further east, we come to the Indian Jadukata Bridge in Ranikor in the West Khasi Hills District of Meghalaya, 130 km from its capital, Shillong. This bridge over the Jadukata river is close to the Indo-Bangladesh border and therefore a vital link on an important road in this border state. Even cost wise, compared to the other bridges featured here, it is a lightweight at €1.5 million.

6) The Sutong Bridge in China is a cable-stayed bridge with the world’s longest main span (1,088 m); its overall length is 8,206 m and the two bridge towers are the world’s second tallest at 306 m

Image: Unknown photographer

Moving further east, here’s the Sutong Bridge that spans the Yangtze River and connects Sutong (Suzhou) and Nantong in China. It shortens the commute from Shanghai to Nantong, making ferry service superfluous and heightening Nantong’s importance as part of the Yangtze River Delta economic zone. The opening of the bridge in May 2008 has brought foreign investments to the city and spurned the development of poorer northern Jiangsu regions. No wonder, with a status project that cost €1.3 billion.

7) The Akashi Bridge in Japan is the world’s longest suspension bridge with a total length of 3,911 m and contains a 6-lane highway

Image: Kim Rötzel

Moving yet further east, we reach the Akashi Bridge (also Akashi-Kaikyo or Pearl Bridge) in Kobe, Japan. With a centre span of 1,991 m, it is the world’s longest suspension bridge and links Kobe with the mainland of Honshu. Since the bridge’s opening in 1998, crossing the Akashi Strait has become much safer as the bridge has been built to withstand strong winds, sea currents and earthquakes. Before then, passengers used to rely on ferries that were prone to accidents due to severe storms in the region.

8) Sundial Bridge in Redding, California is a pedestrian bridge, 213 m long and 7 m wide; it is stretched precisely from south to north, making the bridge a functioning sundial

Image: Lyn and Jesse

Last but not least, moving yet further east around the globe, we reach a humble walking bridge in Redding, California. The stylish Sundial Bridge across the Sacramento River is a glass-bottom bridge that connects a network of walking and biking trails. The requirement before planning the bridge was that it could not cast too much shadow over the river as Turtle Bay happens to be one of the best salmon spawning places in California. Therefore, the design is light and airy. Opened in July 2004, the bridge’s construction cost €17.4 million.

For all those inspired by these beautiful bridges around the world, there is good news: most of the bridges portrayed have their own web sites (brochures are so 20th century) with lots more information and virtual tours.

Source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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All images by Susan Bell

Take two and a half acres of land, a couple of horses and a plethora of manure and what do you get? Even though dung sculptures may not be the first thing that comes to mind, it certainly was for Susan Bell.

Bell, a painter from Denver, Colorado, conceived the idea of dung sculptures amidst a humorous conversation with some fellow artists. After extensive research on creating molds and much experimentation, Bell came up with a formula to create her ‘Dung Bunnies’.

Horse manure is gathered, turned twice yearly, and left to decompose for two years. The manure, practically free of odor, is put through a cement mixer and then fitted into wire mesh moldings. Since horses digest 20 percent of the grass they eat, a lot of grass remains in their manure. With a composition similar to adobe, this horse manure mixture is easy to mold.

Bunnies, cats, frogs, snails and ducks make up the variety of garden sculptures Bell sells from her gallery, various farmer’s markets and her online site. Those with a particularly keen sense of humor can even purchase the ‘married couple’ sculpture; modeled after a wedding cake ornament. Bell produces on average 30 sculptures per week while concentrating on her painting. 

Although feces aren’t a new medium to modern art, as a Dung Bunny, it serves an additional purpose. These sculptures not only enrich a garden ornamentally, but environmentally as a fertilizer. So if you want something that can add nutrition as well as beauty to your garden, look into Dung Bunnies. Or you can try to make one of your own. Check out Susan’s Dung Bunny site to see how.

Source 1, 2

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Image by NASA

What’s worse than an island that experiences the most violent volcanic explosion on record? Perhaps the same island rising again in the same place that may have the same reaction.  Anak Krakatau, one of 130 active volcanoes in the Phillipines, is an island that lies between Java and Sumatra. The island’s name means the “son of Krakatoa.” In 1883, it’s parent experienced a volcanic eruption that remains registered as the loudest explosion on record (heard from as far as Australia). Other casualties resulting from this episode included tsunamis that reached as far a South Africa and estimated death tolls of over 120,000 people.

Image by flydime

Although Krakatoa submerged after several eruptions, Anak Krakatau resurfaced in 1927. New volcanic activity caused the island to sink again only a few months later. Emerging again in 1930, it has remained above sea level ever since. Despite these incidents, the fertile volcanic ash and soil has resulted in Anak Krakatau being the home to over 500 species of plants and animal life. These animals include butterflies, birds, land mollusks, bats and reptiles. The ability for wildlife to thrive under such volatile circumstances has drawn the attention of much scientific research. Scientists, who have studied how species develop on island ecosystems, have witnessed buried seed banks and periodic extinctions.

Image via Mongabay

Most scientists have deemed another disaster inevitable. While the high numbers of tourists that visit yearly are continuously threatened, scientists try to collect as much information as possible before the island submerges. Due to a plan by the Indonesian government to mine the island of it’s soil and sand, Anak Krakatau may not resurface for some time. So if you’re feeling brave and desire to witness the death of an island, hurry and book your plane tickets. Don’t forget to bring a friend; or better yet an enemy.

Source 1, 2

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Even if the planet was disintegrating around us people would still use air travel to get around the globe, whether they’re wannabe tree-huggers or global warming naysayers. For all its faults environmentally, flying remains the quickest way to travel, and in some parts of the world is the only option to cover long distances where public transport is practically non-existent. So, instead of telling people to stay at home – which they won’t – it’s better to provide greener travel options so they can do their bit for the environment should they want to. This means staying in smaller hotels, where there’s often a slant towards the personal touch, or large hotels that have worked hard to incorporate environmental practices.

And because so many long-distance flights entail a stopover, it seems only right to take a look at the flurry of airport hotels catering to the weary traveler. Here are our top seven of hip airport hotels from around the globe:

CitizenM, Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam

Located right next to Schiphol Airport, CitizenM – short for citizen mobile – oozes cool. Offering affordable but beautifully kitted out rooms, the hotel has a luxurious boutique feel without if affecting the bank balance too much. Each room is ergonomically designed, every inch of space is used without it seeming too claustrophobic. Both the shower and toilet are in the room but hidden within tube shaped privacy screen reminiscent of the beam-me-up-Scotty times. There’s also a plasma screen TV at the foot of the bed and Wifi is available for those who want to hole themselves away, though the ethos of this hotel is to come down to the lounge and meet other travelers. Doubles start at €73 for room only.

Images and Sources 1, 2, 3, 4

Yotel, Gatwick Airport, London

It’s a well known fact that space is precious in London, and those who know how use every teeny, weeny orifice they can find, so it’s no surprise to see a hotel for hobbitses in the metropolitan area. Inspired by British Airways’ first-class suites and the boxy Japanese pod hotels, Yotel Gatwick is the brainchild of Simon Woordroffe, founder of the Japanese fast-food sushi chain YoSushi, and unlike many of the does-what-it-says-on-the-tin Asian sleep pods, Yotel is a designers dream. Designed by exclusive company Conran & Partners, the rooms are small but perfectly functional with a shower room and toilet, though claustrophobia sufferers may want to opt for the premium cabin where there’s slightly more room – well, you can at least get the cat in there, not sure about the swinging of it though. Premium cabins cost from £40 for four hours; standard cabins cost from £25 for four hours, extra hours are charged from £6.50 per hour thereafter. There is also a Yotel Heathrow, London and Yotel Schiphol, Amsterdam.

Sources and Images: 1, 2, 3

Aloft Hotel, Denver International Airport, Colorado

Taking North America by storm, Aloft are a new breed of budget luxury hotels from Starwood Hotels & Resorts. The high-design/low-cost brand of hotels offer a new, contemporary take on the average airport hotel. Swathed in vibrant colors throughout, Aloft hotels veer away from the usual corporate beige coloring of so many other airport hotels, making a stay there seem not so banal. With a nod to the sleek, clean designs of northern Europe, or as one reviewer put it: “If Ikea opened a hotel, this is what it would look like”, Aloft manage to bring airport hotels into the 21st century, without the tantrums. Check out the interactive menu in the lobby restaurant or have a relaxing game of pool in the lounge before bedding down for the night. Doubles from $189, room only. A number of hotels are dotted across North America with one also in Beijing.

Images and Sources: 1, 2

Plush Hotel, Bristol Airport, England

Although not in the airport grounds, Plush Hotel is the best place to stay if you want to escape the impersonal chain hotels that surround Bristol airport, and it’s very, very sexy. Nestled in the Somerset countryside, just over a mile from the airport, Plush is a small, independently-run boutique hotel that’s built up a loyal fan-base of customers over the years. Each room is luxuriously and uniquely decorated and offers guests the chance to unwind in the most beautiful setting overlooking the Mendip Hills. Prices vary according to which room is preferred and whether airport parking is included. A seven day airport package, which includes one night’s stay and seven days parking in the hotel’s exclusive airport car park, costs £129 ($182) per room.

Images and Sources: 1, 2

Jumbo Jet Hostel, Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, Sweden

The first jumbo jet hostel opened its doors (or should that be gangway) just over a year ago to much acclaim. Created from the remains of an abandoned Boeing 747, the plane hotel is proving to be a big hit among travelers. It was 37-year-old businessman Oscar Dios that first thought of bringing the metal giant back to life, and he hasn’t looked back since. Able to cater for up to 72 people at any one time, the 25-room jumbo hostel offers a much more comfy sleep than is usual on a flight, albeit still in a small area. It might be the most comfortable night’s sleep you’ll ever have on a plane! And if you’re worried about it being hijacked and taking off in the middle of the night, the jumbo is securely fastened to the ground with concrete and steel fixtures. Prices start at 350 SEK ($43) for a dorm bed, with breakfast included.

Images and Sources: 1, 2

Vila Aeroport Hotel, Tirana Airport, Albania

Here’s another plane hotel, well, half a plane. There’s not much information available about it but of what we can find it looks set to join the cool ranks of airport hotels. Located in Tirana, Albania, the hotel is on the road to the north of the airport, next to an existing hotel that is reported to be more Dallas than Dracula. This new quirky pit stop was set to open in late 2008, so if you’re heading that way, take some pics and tell us more. No prices as yet.
Source 1

Aviator, Farnborough, Hampshire UK

Possibly one of the most luxurious airport hotels available, the Aviator serves those who use the adjoining private aviation grounds at Farnborough airport, so it’s only frequented by those who have enough cash to splash. Rooms have been given the once over by interior designer Amanda Rosa, who has tried to get away from the usual airport hotel décor by sassing it up a little, although there’s still a touch too much beige and brown to give it the gold standard. And if you’re bored with the bland color palette there’s a Bose sound system and huge flat screen TV to keep you occupied. Doubles start from £95 for room only.

Images and Sources: 1, 2

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Insertion of vacuum tank in the LHC at CERN.
Image: CERN

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the fabulous, ultimate atom smasher built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The LHC has a 27km circumference and first went on line for a brief time in August, 2008.

Hadrons are the heavier atomic particles that reside in the nucleus of atoms. Atomic physicists want to smash ‘em up because the stupendous collision energies often bring forth new, rare and very important atomic particles into existence. These fruits of these ultimate collisions hold the secrets of the universe, in both macroscosmic and micrcocosmic realms. The LHC will accelerate counter-rotating beams of 10 trillion protons each to within a fraction of the speed of light, 186,000 miles/second. These protons beams will then collide – smash together – at 600 million times/second. The ultimate prize would be the appearance and thereby confirmation of the Higgs boson.

The Higgs particle is the last important atomic particle to be predicted by The Standard Model. In the Standard Model, which is the widely accepted theory of matter and the forces of nature, bosons carry forces between quarks, which are the building blocks of the hadrons in the nucleus, and leptons, those particles that exist outside the atom’s nucleus. The legendary physicist Stephen Hawking has bet a symbolic $100 that the Higgs boson will not be found.

Decay of Higgs boson following the collision of two protons.
Image: CMS via Wikimedia

In addition to the quest for the Higgs boson, the LHC experiments will tackle the biggest questions in atomic physics. There is a theoretical model that explains how the Higgs boson creates the masses of elementary particles. Can this mechanism be confirmed in nature? Is there a single unified force in nature as predicted by the Grand Unification Theory? Why is gravity so weak when compared to the other forces? What exactly is supersymmetry, long predicted but not yet confirmed in nature? Evidence that addresses this question could take a year or more to accumulate. What is dark matter and dark energy? As predicted by string theory, are there dimensions in nature beyond the fourth dimension of space-time?

There are 1,232 dipole magnets that keep the proton beams on their circular path in the LHC tunnels. Of these, 392 quadrupole magnets keep the proton beams focused. Most of these magnets weigh over 27 tons each, and 96 tons of liquid helium keep the magnets at 1.9 degrees Kelvin. The tunnel of the LHC is 3.8 miles wide and concrete lined, and most of it is in France. Two adjacent parallel beam pipes each contain proton beams that travel in opposite directions, remember the objective is a collision.

These proton beam pipes intersect at four points. Protons beams move through three systems to have their energy increased. Now vastly accelerated, once or twice a day the proton beams are injected into the LHC tunnels where the field of the superconducting magnets has received a tremendous boost. Travelling at nearly the speed of light, the protons complete a circuit around the LHC 11,000 times each second. With 2,808 proton bunches, collisions between the beams will first occur every 75 nanoseconds, then will be increased to occur no less than 25 nanoseconds apart. Four specialized detector systems will look for the origins of mass and extra dimensions; the Higgs boson, dark matter, an exotic form of liquid matter that existed shortly after the Big Bang, and so called ‘missing anti-matter.

Large Hadron Collider quadrupole magnets for directing proton beams to interact.
Image: Wikipedia

The LHC experiments are exciting and very important to physics, the philosophy of science and our understanding of what makes the universe tick. So what is the problem? Will radiation poison the environment? Will the noise disturb the neighbors? Hardly, given the massive concrete shielding, depths underground of 50 to 175 meters and the rural setting.

The problem might be larger and almost sci fi. Experiments of this type go where no man or woman or proton has ever been before. Some physicists genuinely fear that one unforeseen product from these collisions might be a tiny black hole. Black holes are now familiar but still difficult to understand. Some stars die in massive implosions that only stabilize with the creation of a black hole. Vast quantities of dust, gas and radiation at several wave lengths are thrown into the universe by such an event, which is often the explosion of large star that is called a supernovae. Radiation, including visible light, that is captured by a black hole cannot escape. There is no way to see a black hole at any wavelength.

Einstein had predicted the existence of black holes and spectral analysis has led astronomers to the discovery of real black holes in our real universe. A black hole is known as a ’singularity’. In the specialized vocabulary of atomic physics and quantum mechanics, this means that a black hole is an entity where the laws of physics as we know them in the observable universe do not apply. What does apply is only beginning to be understood because black holes have infinite mass, but no volume and no dimensions. Furthermore, black holes are surrounded by a region of space-time (the true 4th dimension) where it is impossible to stand still.

So far, so good but there are a few scientists and others in the general public who worry about possible dangers in the LHC experiments. Legal challenges continue although doomsday predictions have been dismissed by almost all atomic physicists. Predicted but not yet found, strangelets are also viewed as a potential serious problem. Ranging in size to a few meters across, strangelets are built up from quarks and predicted to be extraordinarily stable. If produced in the LHC, the theorized properties of strangelets would allow them to start a runaway fusion process that would convert all of the earth into a strange matter star. But most atomic physicists believe that the energy levels and temperatures inside the LHC preclude the formation of strangelets which are destined to remain only theoretical for some time.

A stellar mass black hole inspiralling to a massive black hole.
Image: NASA

A few atomic scientists and laymen are very worried that a tiny black hole would be created by the massive proton collision experiments, and that it would not quickly disintegrate. How the gravity of black hole interacts over distance is its defining characteristic, not the absolute strength of its gravitational field.

Small black holes might have the greatest capacity to tear objects apart at the atomic level as they approach. Even the hadron particles of the nucleus would be torn apart into their constituent quarks. In contrast, objects falling into massive black holes might remain largely intact.

This doomsday scenario predicts that a newly created, stable, microscopic, black hole might suck in nearby matter, first the proton beams and then the nearby components of the LHC chamber. And then, what? Would this black hole begin to grow in an uncontrollable fashion by the continual absorption of nearby matter. First the LHC itself, then all of CERN, the several cantons of Switzerland, then the entire country, then alpine Europe then…? It seems to make all the world’s problems recede into insignificance.

Throughout 2007 and 2008, independent physicists not involved with the research at CERN made several studies about the safety of the planned experiments. Each study concluded there is no risk, that the postulated dangers will not occur. The very small black holes that might be produced are predicted to either undergo a net loss of matter and disappear in a flash of gamma radiation, or have extremely weak interactions with anything nearby and thus be harmless.

Inside the 27 km long CERN LHC tunnel, located 100 metres under the ground near Geneva.
Image: Juhanson

In September 2008, a serious breakdown of major accelerator components occurred nine days after successful trial runs and two successful circuits of the LHC by accelerated proton beams. The LHC had to be shut down. There were faults in two superconducting, bending magnets. One hundred bending magnets also had serious problems and about six tons of liquid helium escaped into the tunnel. There was a temperature rise of 100 K and vacuum in the beam pipe was lost, all of this damage caused by a faulty electrical connection between two magnets. The estimated time to warm up, then cool down of the affected areas was at least two months, and so the LHC was shut down. Twenty-nine giant magnets were damaged and it will take several months of very hard work to repair them.

Total cost of the project since construction was approved in 1995 will be 3.2 – 6.4 billion euros, which includes cost overruns, repairs and the experiments.

These phenomenal, proton collision experiments will be started again in the summer of 2009. If all goes well, a large upgrade is planned for ten years hence that will be called the Super Luminosity Hadron Collider (SLHC). If the ultra-high-energy collisions of particles in the LHC can create microscopic black holes, it is expected that all types of particles will be emitted by black hole evaporation, providing key evidence for any Grand Unified Theory. Particle collisions in the LHC with such results would be an extraordinary milestone in the history of science and our understanding of how the universe came into existence and how it is constructed. Stand by for a possible, historic milestone in both atomic science and philosophy.

Sources 1, 2, 3, 4

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