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Screw the Large Hadron Collider, I'll Take the Large Helical Device
Posted by Adam Frucci at 1:15 AM on September 5, 2008
We've all been wowed by the remarkable photos of the apocalypse-bringing Large Hadron Collider (set to run next Wednesday!), but it's not the only piece of insanely-large scientific equipment that's easy on the eyes. Japan's Large Helical Device was designed to "conduct fusion-plasma confinement research in a steady-state." Also, it looks amazing. Sure, it doesn't have as many far-reaching implications for the physics world, nor are there any idiot protestors complaining that it'll destroy the universe, but wow, what a picture. Hit the jump for a much bigger version.
And click here for the ultra-mega-huge version. [Large Helical Device via Neatorama]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
David Gerard
Posted September 6, 2008 9:53 PM
My theory is the LHC is Dr Evil holding the world to RANSOM! http://tinyurl.com/6kfezl
GadgetPlay
Posted 1:35 AM 5/9/08
@terbeest: I was wondering when someone would mention the important part.
GadgetPlay
bosskev
Posted 1:34 AM 5/9/08
Wow! Central Services has really outdone themselves with this installation!! Makes my ductwork looks so stodgy and unfashionable.
bosskev
Kaiser-Machead on the Edge
Posted 1:34 AM 5/9/08
@terbeest: Abundant, and cheap....forever?
Someone, or a group of people, will disappear, and this machine will mysteriously cause seven different types of cancer, and all will be normal once again.
Kaiser-Machead on the Edge
terbeest
Posted 1:30 AM 5/9/08
actually it does have far-reaching implications, but without the doomsday effect... like abundant cheap electricity for ever?!?!
terbeest
haddiman1
Posted 1:29 AM 5/9/08
This doesnt have anything on the BlendTec!
haddiman1
siville
Posted 1:27 AM 5/9/08
That's a LOT of stainless steel.
siville
Kaiser-Machead on the Edge
Posted 1:27 AM 5/9/08
H.R. Geiger water slide!
Kaiser-Machead on the Edge
halcalanky
Posted 1:27 AM 5/9/08
I need this in my garden.. get some water wooshing down them and jump in!
halcalanky
tabaks
Posted 1:25 AM 5/9/08
As Giz said so eloquently a few days ago, this thing gives me a Large Hadron in my pants.
tabaks
Hvedhrungr
Posted 1:25 AM 5/9/08
@Adam Frucci: But it would be bloody ginormous...!
Hvedhrungr
Phenostar
Posted 1:24 AM 5/9/08
hello, new desktop.
Phenostar
92BuickLeSabre
Posted 1:24 AM 5/9/08
Wow.
92BuickLeSabre
Adam Frucci
Posted 1:21 AM 5/9/08
@markgm: I think I'd break the site if I put a 3000px+ wide picture in a post.
Adam Frucci
markgm
Posted 1:20 AM 5/9/08
You guys are running your monitors at 991x618?
markgm
yogibimbi
Posted 1:19 AM 5/9/08
looks like a bloody octopus
yogibimbi
Akibake-
Posted 1:55 AM 5/9/08
Boy that hires image looks like crap at 100%. What gives? Pretty Gigeristic, though.
Akibake-
russdanger
Posted 1:53 AM 5/9/08
Que the good-natured geeky college freshman klutz to step into the middle of the thing and get turned into...
HELIX-MAN!
russdanger
Curves
Posted 1:53 AM 5/9/08
Its beautiful. I dont understand what its for, but its beautiful.
Curves
macegr
Posted 1:53 AM 5/9/08
I think that 3826px image was scaled up by 3x or so, I also wanted a new desktop but recoiled in horror at the pixelation.
macegr
djtooshay
Posted 1:47 AM 5/9/08
@dofermento: No you didn't.
djtooshay
dofermento
Posted 1:42 AM 5/9/08
Bt ds t blnd?
dofermento
Git Em SteveDave is starlost
Posted 2:16 AM 5/9/08
Is this from Event Horizon 2?
Git Em SteveDave is starlost
shifty_276
Posted 2:14 AM 5/9/08
...you see its...its like ..its like a series of tubes..
BWAHAHAHA
shifty_276
forrestmc4
Posted 2:09 AM 5/9/08
Matrix set piece or plasma thing....could go either way.
forrestmc4
wcspxyx
Posted 2:00 AM 5/9/08
It's MechaCthulhu!
wcspxyx
ps61318
Posted 2:35 AM 5/9/08
Are those torx screws? Man, I hate torx screws. I always misplace my torx wrenches, and have to use hex keys in their place, and look at how tight it is in there, I'd never fit a torx wrench in there... This thing is just not built for the do-it-your-selfer.
And since no one has dared say it for some time, I'm waiting for the steampunk version of this thing. Of course, it would be the fusion-plasma-punk version, but still....
ps61318
whatnot22
Posted 2:34 AM 5/9/08
Looks like a cool new enclosed alpine slide. Wasn't this in the Schwarzenegger movie Total Recall?
whatnot22
Kaiser-Machead on the Edge
Posted 2:31 AM 5/9/08
@Git Em SteveDave is starlost: Not enough spikes.
Kaiser-Machead on the Edge
92BuickLeSabre
Posted 2:27 AM 5/9/08
@Git Em SteveDave: "Event Horizon' 2: Fusion-Plasma Boogaloo."
92BuickLeSabre
Geisrud
Posted 2:50 AM 5/9/08
Ultra-mega-huge version = desktop background!
Geisrud
Git Em SteveDave is starlost
Posted 2:50 AM 5/9/08
@Kaiser-Machead on the Edge: Well, they realized that spikes/blades freaked out newcomers to the original, so they went sleek this time. But what you think are screw heads, that's where the spikes come out. Also, in this movie, you cut off your ears.
Git Em SteveDave is starlost
rockntrumpet
Posted 2:44 AM 5/9/08
I may have just shat my pants at the sheer awesomeness of this image.
rockntrumpet
litbruin
Posted 3:11 AM 5/9/08
SHOP!
litbruin
Duc
Posted 3:06 AM 5/9/08
el not-in-focus
wtf
Duc
ripfire
Posted 3:35 AM 5/9/08
Looks like a colander... on steroids.
ripfire
hindsight2020
Posted 3:20 AM 5/9/08
@hindsight2020: more like consistent curvature inside an intestinal wall.
hindsight2020
hindsight2020
Posted 3:19 AM 5/9/08
"Japan's Large Helical Device was designed to "conduct fusion-plasma confinement research in a steady-state." Also, it looks amazing."
Amazing yes!
Steady . . .I'm not so sure about!
hindsight2020
Papsky
Posted 4:12 AM 5/9/08
damn japanese and their tentacle porn...
i never understood that stuff.
Papsky
aec007
Posted 4:32 AM 5/9/08
And when not in use... it helps train the Japanese Olympic bobsled team!
No Sake required, you come out puking anyway....
;D
aec007
cudthecrud
Posted 4:19 AM 5/9/08
How big is this thing? I don't see anything to give an idea of scale.
cudthecrud
gadgetfreak
Posted 4:18 AM 5/9/08
Not sure if everyone sees the same Gawker Artists banner below it...with what looks like a metal tentacle coming out of the sea. nice match.
gadgetfreak
Gann
Posted 5:48 AM 5/9/08
@Curves: It's actually even more beautiful when you know what it does.
Gann
Con Seannery
Posted 5:45 AM 5/9/08
It's so purdyful...
Con Seannery
maven2k
Posted 6:11 AM 5/9/08
That is cool looking. It looks like it came from the Matrix.
maven2k
Plasmafire
Posted 6:49 AM 5/9/08
It looks like it is either from the Matrix or the Borg.
Plasmafire
purgedsoul
Posted 7:06 AM 5/9/08
repeat after me t-e-n-t-a-c-l-e-s.. tentacles! good! now, you know the drill..
purgedsoul
shini
Posted 7:43 AM 5/9/08
How much do these cost? One that has all the expensive science crap removed? I would totally put one in my house. Probably near the kitchen or in the guest room.
shini
Curves
Posted 8:11 AM 5/9/08
@Gann: Thank you Gann. I will be reading that when I have a few. Who says Giz isnt educational? (No, really, I learn a lot here, some good, some not, but I do learn.)
Curves
monkeybars
Posted 11:01 AM 5/9/08
Wooo! Ultra-mega-huge-blurry-as-all-hell version!
monkeybars
BiZarRroBALlmeR
Posted 11:25 AM 5/9/08
This what a live action creature form planet Spectra would appear like.
BiZarRroBALlmeR
hakubak
Posted 12:21 PM 5/9/08
That is clearly Mechagodzilla's lower intestine.
hakubak
jtankers
Posted 2:33 PM 5/9/08
End of the Universe, that is crazy.
End of the Earth, possible, plausible, scary, but end of the universe, crazy.
jtankers
jtankers
Posted 2:31 PM 5/9/08
I think I saw that in the last Spider man movie.
jtankers
Set to evil
Posted 1:27 AM 6/9/08
AKIRA!!!!!!!!!!!
Set to evil