The most massive scientific machines

In order to better understand the vast and complex universe, scientists have created enough great scientific machines. The bigger the projects, the more time, cost, and huge human resources of many countries cooperate.

Here are 10 huge scientific machines of the world published in Popsci magazine. According to Popsci, this ranking is selected based on the criteria of construction cost, annual budget, number of operating staff, project size, purpose of the project as well as practicality for life. daily life

10. The time machine reveals the origin of the RHIC universe

Center of Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) came into operation in 2000, with a construction cost of US $ 671 million, an annual operating budget of US $ 160 million and a circumference of 3.8 km, located at New York state (USA), founded to study the evolution of matter in the universe. Using RHIC, scientists wanted to recreate the state in the first 10 microseconds after the big bang.

Physicists at the RHIC center put gold atoms across multiple accelerators, shattering all of their electrons, causing them to become positively charged ions. These ion particles are fed into two round tubes in the accelerator up to 99.9% of the speed of light before they collide. By studying the remnants of this collision, the scientists realized that the molecules in the post-big bang state are more liquid than they were supposed to be.

The RHIC project is currently being used in medicine to develop proton accelerators; Illuminate proton on cancer tumors to kill malignant tumors. Scientists also use heavy ion beams to drill tiny holes on flexible plastic sheets, creating filters that can filter matter at the molecular level. Above all, they want to create the most efficient energy reserve devices based on superconducting magnetic field technology used in RHIC machines.

9. Neptune world's largest ocean observation system

The Neptune Ocean Observation System includes more than 850 km of cable lines, 130 instruments and 400 sensors, all connected to the internet, to help explore the ocean on a grand and continuous scale. night. The Neptune system is located 350km off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, helping to observe the marine life, geography and chemistry of this whole sea.

The system's high-definition cameras provide us with still images and videos of animals and their behavior, helping scientists study changes in local ecosystems. Underwater stethoscope is attached to the seabed to help track the number and migration habits of whales and dolphins. In addition, a remote controlled slide machine called Wally will move along the sea to study underwater methane reserves, which cause global climate change and is also a potential energy source.

Thanks to this project, we know about the worm or simply hear the singing of humpback whales. The annual budget for the project is up to 12 million USD. Initial construction cost is 106 million USD.

8. VLA 'hearing' radio telescope

Spread over hundreds of square kilometers on the desert desert Magdalena, New Mexico (USA), the VLA telescope is one of the largest observatories in the world. 27 single radio antennas, each with a diameter of 24 meters, form a Y-shaped 21 km long hand that collects signals from the most distant objects in the universe.

Its 'sister' project, the Observation Line of the extremely long line (VLBA), is a series of 10 radio antennas spread over 8900 km from Hawaii to the Virgin Islands (UK). The VLA cluster system and VLBA create detailed images of objects in the cosmos near the moon and as far as the observable edge of the universe.

Read any modern astronomy textbook chapter, you will encounter some material or theory based on data collected by VLA and VLBA. Using the VLA telescope, scientists discovered the black hole in the center of the Milky Way, finding the source of gamma-ray bursts in distant nebulae, and in 1989, received the Voyager 2 satellite signal when it moved around Neptune, giving us the first close-up images of this giant gas and its moons.

The annual budget for this project is US $ 15 million with an initial construction cost of US $ 300 million.

7. The largest laser melting test of all time NIF

Considered the world's largest laser energy generator, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is located in Livermore, California (USA), as wide as three football fields, 10 stories high and produces 2 million Jun ultraviolet energy. Violet. That light can produce temperatures of more than 100 million degrees Celsius and 100 billion times the pressure of earth air pressure - comparable to the conditions seen at the core of stars and giant gas planets.

With this machine, scientists seek to redefine the energy production process from fusion reactions. They are also using this work to study what happens with nuclear weapons over time, a difficult issue to assess the safety and reliability of US stockpiles. In addition, scientists hope to understand how explosions will produce elements with heavy atoms such as gold and uranium.

If you happen to store in-house nuclear weapons, the NIF data will help you determine if your stock is safe. On the other hand, some components of NIF help provide fusion energy. This $ 3.54 billion construction project now needs a budget of $ 140 million annually.

6. Juno spacecraft, Jupiter's planetary suicide

In 2016, the Juno ship will enter Jupiter's orbit. Just before entering that path, it will reach speeds of 215.606 km per hour, the fastest object ever created by humans. Once in the orbit, this spacecraft will perform 33 revolutions around the planet and then crash into the planet " suicide ". In the process of 'suicide', it will ' plow ' through Jupiter's hydrogen-filled air until it burns like a meteor. While Juno flies around Jupiter, a set of 9 devices will study many layers of the planet.

Jupiter is the earliest planet in the solar system, and because it is very large, its gravity contains materials originally found in primitive solar systems, such as hydrogen and helium. Therefore, this planet is an effective window to discover the origin of the solar system.

Studying the planet Jupiter will help us understand more planet earth. However, this is just a pure scientific research project, in many respects.

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5. The most massive microscope of all time (ALS)

Since 1993, researchers at the Center for High- Power Molecular Accelerator (ALS) Center in Berkeley, California, have successfully put bright photons beams millions of times the surface of the sun into the proteins, battery electrodes, superconductors and other materials to discover their atomic, molecular and electrical properties.

ALS is one of the brightest light sources of soft X-ray rays, with the right wavelength for spectromicroscopy, scientific equipment that can reveal both the structure and chemical properties of the physical samples that only a few nanometers can amplify.

Currently ALS works to develop a new treatment for malignant neoplasms. The data of the ALS machine can help create chargers that increase battery charging. In addition, this study also promotes the development of transistors at the atomic level and computer microprocessors are becoming more and more modern.

4. Human space window, ISS Station

It takes about $ 2 billion annually and thousands of employees to keep the ISS Space Station bright. So far, 201 people from 11 countries (and 7 wealthy tourists) have visited ISS, the longest-lasting support for human beings in the universe - until November this year will be 11 years and will continue to operate in the next decade. The ISS station is also the largest, heaviest Alpha electric spectrometer ever made into space.

On the ISS, scientists tested spacecraft structures and reinforced systems that could be used to help people fly into the long-term universe. They also examined human physiology, studying the effects of weightlessness on bone density and the production of red blood cells and how the immune system changes over long periods of time outside. Space. Also in May, researchers created AMS, a device that detects foreign matter, quarks that were created in molecular accelerators but have never been seen in nature. .

Research conducted on ISS has found salmonela (the type of bacteria that makes food toxic) becomes much more toxic in space. That discovery, and the identification of the genes that cause changes, are adding fire to the development of the first vaccines against salmonela and MRSA bacteria, staph infections that have caused epidemics for thousands of diseases. People in hospitals around the world.

3. Molecular camera, SNS neutron source breaking system

Every month, SNS neutron breakage system in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA, needs to use 32 million liters of clean water to cool. When operating, the SNS molecular accelerators smash two million million neutron particles each time the neutron beats down a target bay. These thick neutron clouds bend material that helps to understand how the atomic structure has changed over time.

The biggest benefit of this research is to create better battery sources. Scientists use films at the atomic level to observe batteries when they are loaded and stalled in real time. SNS is also used to study protein structure.

2. LHC large nuclear accelerator

Buried 100 meters below the Swiss and French border lands, the LHC is the world's largest nuclear accelerator. The facility needs 700 gigawatts of electricity in an hour and needs an average of $ 1 billion annually to operate. More than 10,000 researchers, engineers, and students from 60 different countries on 6 continents are working with 6 small LHC machines. This work was built to help open the door to basic universe physics.

6 LHC system's nuclear detectors record images of energy types and identify subatomic particles; Help answer questions like: What is the dark matter? Are there extra dimensions in the universe? Does the Higgs particle often called 'God particle' really exist? How was the universe formed?

Although the LHC has helped scientists basically understand physical theories such as black holes, this project has little impact on everyday life unless your family and friends are experts. Silver about the origin of the universe after dinner.

1. The telescope looks at EarthScope's heart

Designed to study the geological evolution of the North American continent, EarthScope 's earth telescope is the most 'terrific' science project on earth. This Earth Science Observatory has recorded data of over 6 million km ² . Since 2003, more than 4,000 devices have collected 67 terabytes of data (67,000 gigabytes), the equivalent of the Library of Congress data - and every six to eight weeks accumulated another terabyte of data.

Researchers are using EarthScope for a variety of experiments to explore aspects of the continental North American geographic structure. The system's 1,100 permanent GPS units span across the United States, and Puerto Rico, helping to search for 'surface variations ' caused by stratigraphic shifts below. For more than 10 years, many groups of scientists have moved 400 mobile seismologists across North America and will collect data on 2000 different locations by next year.

EarthScope data can help explain the strength behind geographic events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, helping to find ways to better prevent them.