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CERN Probes Origin of Life
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research,
has made many formidable discoveries since its launch
50 years ago, but these achievements could be outdone
by findings from a 17-mile accelerator being assembled
outside Geneva.
From 2007 this accelerator will be firing particles at speeds
nearing that of light, before smashing them together to re-create
the conditions scientists believe existed less than one billionth
of a second after the Big Bang -- the birth of the cosmos
some 14 billion years ago.
The new accelerator, known as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC),
replaces the Large Electron Positron Collider (LEP), which
was the world's largest civil engineering undertaking until
the Channel Tunnel was built.
"(We) have achieved very, very important results in
what we call particle physics, which is to say, what happened
after the Big Bang," said CERN Director-General Robert
Aymar.
"
Right now we have too many theories and this is the
machine to confirm, or not, the models that we have.
Only experiment can help us make the choice”.
What scientists are attempting to discover is where particles
get their mass from.
Among the particles they hope will be scattered in
the colossal explosions will be Higgs boson, the so-called
God particle, which according to the Standard Model of particle
physics is responsible for generating mass.
Other questions the LHC may help answer include the nature
of "dark matter," which scientists say makes up
some 95 percent of the universe but which has not yet been
detected.
The temperatures created in the particle collisions will
be around one billion times that of the center of the Sun.
Putin's historic support for Kyoto
The Russian government took a historic step in
the fight against global climate change when
it announced that it will ratify the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol, sending the accord to the Duma for
final approval.
The protocol, which calls for cuts in the emissions
of gases that cause global warming, was designed
to go into effect when at least 55 countries, representing
55% of the world's emissions of greenhouse gases,
ratified it. So far, 124 countries have signed
on, but they were responsible for only 44% of worldwide
emissions.
The addition of Russia -- with its 17.4% share -- finally
puts the agreement in force.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair sees global warming as
one of the biggest issues of our time and has put Britain
on track to slash by 60% emissions of greenhouse gases by
2050. Germany has made significant reductions. And the European
Union has largely embraced Kyoto and its targets. But the
EU knew the U.S. wouldn't sign on. So to have the pact become
legally binding, Russia needed to come on board.
Starting next year, Europe, Japan, Russia, and all other
countries who have signed on will have to start meeting Kyoto's
emissions targets, which call for cuts of at least 5% compared
to 1990 levels.
More recently, the Kyoto Protocol has come under criticism
for not going far enough. Even if businesses meet their targets
by the required date of 2012, greenhouse gases will continue
to build up in the atmosphere. That's why many nations have
already begun to think about what comes after Kyoto -- and
Russia's decision will speed up this process.
"Kyoto has a trigger that requires negotiations for
what comes after 2010," explains Eileen Claussen, president
of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. "Those negotiations
have to start as soon as the protocol goes into effect."
Putin's decision to ratify Kyoto, it seems, will put the
world more firmly on the path to seriously combating global
warming.
Environment takes the lead in innovation challenge
The growing business trend towards protecting the
environment was apparent this week as one of
London's most venerable think tanks announced
the winners of their Coffeehouse Challenge.
Carbon Neutral West of England from Bristol and
the RSA Investors in Environment Award scheme,
spawned from Investors in People were chosen by
Starbucks Coffee Company and the Royal Society
for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and
Commerce (RSA) because of their focus on reducing
carbon emissions, improving environmental standards
and generally working to protect the planet.
Announced as part of the RSA's Day of Inspiration,
the awards were linked to the organisation's new
manifesto for the 21st Century, with topics including:
encouraging enterprise, moving towards a zero-waste
society, fostering resilient communities, developing
a capable population, and advancing global citizenship.
Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees spoke prior to
the award announcement at the RSA's Day of
Inspiration,
reinforcing the global need to embrace clean alternatives
to power such as biofuels and renewable energy.
He said that, as well as minimising environmental
risks, public awareness also needed to increase.
He added that the last 1,000 years had changed
our planet more drastically than any other such
period, but the next 100 years would be vital to
determining the future, and as to whether our bio-sphere
would be able to stabilise.
The RSA's enthusiasm to champion a zero-waste
society was a big inspiration for another winner,
the Carbon Neutral West of England initiative,
according to project host and RSA Fellow John Pontin.
The Bristol-based initiative has already implemented
and begun to expand business car clubs, and Mr
Pontin said they were now taking the concept of
zero waste to more rural communities, teaching
them of simple ways to reduce and offset the greenhouse
gas emissions that they produce.
Everyone involved with the project hoped that
the enthusiasm would spread to other parts of the
UK, if not the world, according to Mr Pontin, who
called the Carbon Neutral West of England project
a "global movement in the making".
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