The Large Hadron Collider
It was a mind numbing reminder being presented with the fact that it all began with fluctuation on a scale less than an atom and even more so with what about the other 97% of the universe we don’t know about?
Fascinating projects emulating conditions at the very start of the universe included; The Large Hadron Collider [LHC] project which is due to be switched on in 2007 which will be the closest we can get to the big bang and the Atlas Experiment which explores the fundamental nature of matter and forces that shape our universe.
From colliding galaxies, antigravity pushing things in the universe further away, to proposals seeking the formation of stars and to why sun flares and coronal mass ejections (CME) happens we come abruptly to the Anthropic Principle. A rather turbulent discussion on anthropological argument erupted.
Finally, we looked into science and imagination, how culture drives science, the physical determinism which drives culture and fiction and the millions spent looking for extraterrestrial life.
Professor Peter Coles University of Nottingham
Dr Tara Shears University of Liverpool
Dr Brian Cox University of Manchester
Dr Lucie Green Mullard Space Science Laboratory UCL
Chris Lintott UCL
Professor Bernard Carr Queen Mary University of London
Dr Caroline Crawford Institute of Astronomy University of Cambridge
Professor Mark Brake University of Glamorgan
Reverend Neil Hook University of Glamorgan
