Author Archives: Jon Butterworth

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About Jon Butterworth

UCL Physics prof, works on LHC, writes (books, Cosmic Shambles and elsewhere). Citizen of England, UK, Europe & Nowhere, apparently.

Heavy Metal in the Large Hadron Collider: this time for real

Posted on 10/11/2010 by Jon Butterworth

On Saturday I wrote about the plans to collide lead ions in the LHC, and showed a simulation of what we might see. On Sunday it happened. Here’s the real thing… See also Chapter 4.6 of Smashing Physics.

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Heavy Ions in the Large Hadron Collider – What’s the difference?

Posted on 07/11/2010 by Jon Butterworth

Recent headlines about the LHC and the big bang look remarkably similar to the other headlines about the LHC and the big bang. What’s the difference now? At The Guardian. See also Chapter 4.6 of Smashing Physics.

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Antarctic balloon sees particles with a million times more energy than the Large Hadron Collider

Posted on 30/10/2010 by Jon Butterworth

The ANITA experiment is designed to look for neutrinos, but saw 16 ultra-high-energy cosmic rays by mistake. At The Guardian. See also Chapter 4.4 of Smashing Physics.

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Murray Gell-Mann on ditching what ‘everybody knows’

Posted on 24/10/2010 by Jon Butterworth

He started from the patterns of particles created by cosmic rays, took a name from James Joyce, and changed the way we see fundamental physics. Video at The Guardian.

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