If the real one threatening to punch all manner of holes through the world was bad enough, imagine how much damage this Lego scale replica could do? Like the actual collider, probably nothing, but try telling all the tiny Lego conspiracy theorists that.
Obviously, this isn’t the whole collider (can you tell?). It’s just the ATLAS section, which monitors high-energy proton collisions for, well, science.
The model is the work of Sasha Mehlhase, a student at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. 81 hours (48 on the 3D model and 33 clicking blocks together), spread over a few weeks and 9500 Lego pieces went into it. At 1/50th the size of CERN’s, it won’t be discovering the Higgs-Boson any time soon, but it should get a few Lego men physicists super-keen about discovering the origins of the universe, now that they finally have the technology.
If you’re looking to build one yourself, great! Sasha’s already working on a construction manual. Even if no one follows in his footsteps, it was worth it just for this adorable photo of a Lego man conducting repairs… just like the real LHC!
[University Post, via Geekologie]
Images: Sasha Mehlhase