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insanely huge particle accelerator

Particle accelerator with a diameter of 2163 miles
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360 towers are erected around the moon, the base of each tower is a self-contained atomic power supply. The towers are tall enough to provide a clear line of sight with the neighboring towers. At the top of each tower is a giant super-conducting magnet and other equipment needed to accelerate and aim the stream.
duroncrush, Jan 06 2004

Link to article on Bush new space initiative http://www.theage.c.../1073437480420.html
[theircompetitor, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Earth-Space Web Earth-Space_20Web
A particle accelerator proposed for Earth orbit is mentioned a couple times here. [Vernon, May 26 2008]

[link]






       Heck - why stop at the surface of the Moon, when we could build one in orbit round the sun?
DrCurry, Jan 06 2004
  

       sp: inanely   

       Question: why?
Worldgineer, Jan 06 2004
  

       [Buzzer] Nope. Sorry. Too much atomic hydrogen, helium, and oxygen. The particles would bash into the stuff before you could do anything with 'em.
galukalock, Jan 06 2004
  

       Why not satellites orbiting the earth?
riromero, Jan 06 2004
  

       For insanely huge particles? I know where you can get a slightly used Jensen Interceptor that could stand to be launched.
RayfordSteele, Jan 06 2004
  

       Its already taken its walk across the periodic table ...
Letsbuildafort, Jan 06 2004
  

       Bush is set to announce a major new space initiative in January. Maybe this is it
theircompetitor, Jan 06 2004
  

       to what end?
Space-Pope, Jan 08 2004
  

       Re-election, of course. I'm all for going to space, but we keep letting politicians get involved...sigh....
normzone, Jan 09 2004
  

       Notes about Bush's proposal attached
theircompetitor, Jan 09 2004
  

       EEEXXXPPPEEENNNSSSIIIVVVEEE!!!   

       If such a device could be constructed, it could be extremely useful for discovering new particles that are too massive to be generated in foreseeable particle accelerators. However, you might not be thinking big enough (surprisingly). If you wanted to go ALL the way (up to the Planck energy, that is) by creating a giant version of the Stanford Linear Accelerator, it would have to be 1 lightyear in length (from what I've read). It might be possible to reach that energy with much smaller rigs, if we find better ways to accelerate particles, that is.
Kryptid, May 08 2008
  

       [Kryptid], is it possible to invert the mechanism of cyclotron in such a way that the magnetic flux is spiral and the charged particles are in linear acceleration along the helix axis? The acceleration is achieved also by increasing the magnetic flux by energizing the coils. I am hoping to take away the centrifugal force imparted by the circular motion of the particles. Also, I would like to have an instantaneous increase of magnetic flux by use of supercapacitors that quickly energize the coils, hoping that the particles accelerate fast enough that the accelerator would be shorter compared to other types. What are your insights concerning this scheme?
rotary, May 08 2008
  

       Couldn't we build just over half the lunar accelerator, and use Earth-orbiting particle generators to fire at the moon, have the accelerator whip the particles round the far-side and back towards Earth and a second, receiving satellite?
coprocephalous, May 08 2008
  

       Shhhh, there really is an insanely huge particle accelerator.... In fact, there are many of them. Astronomers believe about them, yet they haven't seen them - funny. They are out there. If you have figured out that the ultimately dark spaces they occupied are black asses, then they are to be figured out as holes.
rotary, May 09 2008
  

       You could build an accelerator that big within the USA. Why go to the moon?
Bad Jim, May 26 2008
  

       God, with, like, 3 miles of tubing, aren't they (long island) already insanely huge?
plynthe, May 26 2008
  

       Gotta love monumental engineering +
simonj, May 26 2008
  

       [bad jim] because you have to demolish fewer McDonalds that way.
victor, May 26 2008
  

       The vacuum in particle accelerators is "harder" than that in space around the inner planets ....
8th of 7, May 26 2008
  

       If we aren't demolishing McDonald's, we are not making progress.
plynthe, May 26 2008
  
      
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