When you hear the words “particle accelerator”, the first thing that probably pops in your
mind is the Large Hadron Collider.
I mean it is the most powerful atom-smashing machine on the planet, charged with unpacking
the fundamental mysteries of our universe…
I went there once, it’s pretty awesome!
Particle accelerators do exactly that: accelerate particles.
Basically, charged subatomic particles move through a circular pipe.
As they whip around, the strength of the electric field keeping them contained increases.
More energy, faster particles.
And more faster, more better.
At the LHC, particles make 11,000 laps every second for about 20 minutes till they reach
their optimum energy level and collide -- that’s so fast!
Scientists use this high-energy tool to better understand the laws of physics, and find explanations
for theories to explain matter, space, and time.
Even though the L-H-C is the biggest, it definitely isn’t the only particle accelerator out
there.
In fact, you probably live not too far from one!
There are over 30,000 particle accelerators all over the world doing a variety of jobs
that sometimes have nothing to do with particle physics.
For example, if you’re in Paris, France admiring the towering glass pyramid at the
Louvre museum, there’s a particle accelerator 15 meters below you.
Yep.
In the basement, physicists use their particle accelerator called AGLAE for cultural preservation.
AGLAE scans priceless museum artifacts, uncovering what they’re made of, and making sure that
they are the real deal.
Want more specifics?
OF COURSE YOU DO.
These scientists used AGLAE to identify the minerals in the eyes of a famous 4,500 year
old Egyptian sculpture called “The Seated Scribe.”
I've seen it.
It's awesome.
For all 3 of you art history nerds out there, it’s made of black rock crystal, white magnesium
carbonate, and iron oxide.
And it is super cool.
How about another, yes please.
No one likes contaminated food right?
Well, you can thank your friendly neighborhood particle accelerator for zapping any traces
of e-coli or salmonella from your groceries.
You've likely heard of foods being irradiated.
Scientifically speaking, without radiation nothing would grow on our planet -- in that
all light is radiation, but I digress.
Grocery Irradiation works by shooting a stream of high energy particles into the food, thus
killing all bacteria while maintaining the quality of the produce.
Easy.
It's sort of like pasteurizing milk or canning food, except scientists are using laser beams
plus amazingness.
So, if you see this symbol next to a bag of spinach, it means it’s been treated with
a particle accelerator.
And that you should probably get excited at the store and tell everyone.
Some of the most ubiquitous accelerators aren’t cyclical ones like the Large Hadron Collider,
they’re linear.
A straight line, like a launch device for a but instead, they're launching particles.
These are called "linacs" or "Linear Accelerators" The longest linac in the world is at the SLAC
… it's buried underground and if you’ve ever driven on a section of highway 280 in
California, you’ve driven RIGHT OVER IT.
WHAT.
Linacs like the one at the SLAC are used by hospitals to kill cancer!
Proton therapy utilizes a particle accelerator that fires a beam right at a patient’s tumor.
This was a break away from conventional radiation therapy using x-rays, since proton therapy
can target tumors without causing any extensive damage to the surrounding healthy tissue.
Doctors are able to adjust how deeply the protons penetrate the patient's body, which
is why it's such an optimum technique.
This kind of treatment is critical for head and neck tumors, which are surrounded by the
brain stem, spinal cord, tongue, etc … basically super important structures that you’d ideally
want to keep intact.
And these are just some of the problems particle accelerators are tackling.
You can find them helping scientists discover new drugs to treat major diseases, inspecting
shipping cargo … the list truly goes on for this unsung hero in science!
So we know all matter is made up of particles, but...what the heck are particles?
Julian will give you a crash course in subatomic particles right here.
And do you live next to a particle accelerator?
Have you ever visited one?
Let us know in the comments and subscribe so you get more videos from us here at Seeker.