Julian left his quantum physics research path, but he certainly carried knowledge and inspiration from it over into his art career. These sculptures are intended to portray some incredible quantum physics ideas for which there are “no consistent mental images.” That craziness aside, the sculptures are lovely eye-candy based on artistic merit alone. [Julian Voss-Andreae via Boing Boing]

The book’s called Voyage To The Heart Of Matter – The Atlas Experiment At CERN and it’s written by Emma Sanders and crafted by Anton Radevsky. It’ll be out at the end of November and run for about $US33. I just want one because it’ll satisfy both the physics dork and the bookworm inside me all at once. [Atlas via Shiny Shiny via OhGizmo!]

Separate from the LHC itself, CERN’s labs are sprawling and fairly old, so it’s understandable if they’re a little industrio-creepy. Which they are!

But considering the facilities are intended for similar purposes (in theory), and the CERN already employs a real-life Gordon Freeman, the likeness here is just uncanny, as if CERN ripped the models and textures from Valve’s FPS and somehow actualised them. (Or, you know, the other way around, which actually makes sense.) Check out the full gallery at: [CERNLove via Reddit]

It took them a while to get there, but once they crossed paths, Boyle and Smith quickly got to work on our beloved CCD image sensors, changing our digital photographs forever. And one day, as the rest of the world had their eyes on the moon in 1969, they finalised their device, which would let us capture images of it.

Williard Boyle had a brief teaching career after his stint in the Royal British Navy, earning his BSc, MSc and PhD from McGill University. He then moved on to join Bell Labs, working up to being director of the Space Science and Exploratory Studies department where he provided “support for the Apollo space program and help[ed] to select lunar landing sites”. After some time away from that, he “returned to Bell Labs in 1964, working on the development of integrated circuits”. All the while it was remarked that he truly was a modest and “self-effacing” man, almost a stereotype of the quiet genius.

While we don’t know whether he was cocky or modest, George E. Smith followed a vaguely similar path: he served in the US Navy, then earned a BSc from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD from the University of Chicago, where he did in fact write a three-page-long dissertation. He also joined Bell Labs and began to research lasers and semiconductor devices.

Yes, with their beginnings in space exploration and lasers, it seems almost obvious that these two were bound to come up with something incredible, but I doubt that they even dreamed about inventing something that we would use or see results of on a daily basis.

Dearest Williard, beloved George: Today we thank you for your inventions and congratulate you on your Nobel prize. After all, without you, our porn wouldn’t be the high-quality digital video we so enjoy. [Digital Photography Review and Wikipedia and Wikipedia]

The Nobel Prize for physics is the award in question, and it was actually split between two winners this year.

The first, Charles K. Kao, is the man most responsible for making fibre optic communication the force it is today. Whenever you fire up FiOS next, give thanks to Kao.

The second winner is actually two people: Willard Boyle and George Smith. These two chaps invented the CCD. No, not the Catholic classes your parents forced you to go to when you were a child, the CCD device that’s used in countless thousands of digital cameras and other similar gadgets.

Of course if you combine the two breakthroughs you get digital porn, for which, as far as I know, there is no Nobel category. Regardless, lots to be thankful for today. [DPRReview via CrunchGear]

Except, obviously, in the case of the LHC this is real hyperdrive technology and testing we’re talking about, whereas, sadly, Han’s bucket of bolts will remain firmly in the realm of sci-fi.

But no matter. If physicist Franklin Felber gets his way then an ancient, unknown German research paper from the 1920s could get dusted off and have its thesis tested in the LHC. Called the “Foundations of Physics,” the paper proposed that under certain circumstances a stationary mass can, on occasion, repel a “relativistic particle.” Ferber’s theory proposes that the opposite must also be true, and that this can be tested at the LHC.

In the experiment, Felber would monitor a test mass inside the ring as particles shoot past it. The work would not interfere with other already scheduled projects, and if it works we’d be one small step closer to unlocking that coveted near light speed achievement. That is, if the LHC ever starts up again. Where’s R2? [Technology Review via Engadget]

The reasons floated for the collider’s foibles are many as of late, from faulty hoses to un-magnetic magnets to the aforementioned libidinous couple who’ve been assaulting coworkers’ ear drums with wanton abandon.

Nevertheless, pressure from scientists have forced CERN to start the LHC up in November, where it will then smash atoms at half power until next year—when it will have to be shut down again.

Meanwhile, this may all be moot, at least for now, as many scientists (publicly and privately) have turned their eager eyes to other colliders around the world, like Fermilab’s Tevatron, for use with similar experiments. [MSNBC]

On a related note, it’s exciting to find out there’s another company besides Komatsu that makes trucks this big. Hey, Liebherr, do you have review units? [Break]

Seeing that current nuclear fusion projects are expected to cost around 14 billion dollars (ITER project) and take 20 years to complete, General Fusion’s reactor would indeed come at a bargain price. But how can they make this so cheap, and what makes them so confident they’ll succeed?

Well currently, the aforementioned ITER project is attempting to use astronomically expensive, superconducting tokamak magnets to keep superheated plasma in its place for a fusion reaction, while the National Ignition Facility is trying to use lasers to compress plasma into a reaction.

General Fusions wants to create a reaction using a mechanical process where 220 pneumatic pistons push acoustic waves through a sphere filled with liquid lithium and lead into a plasma ring in the centre. With 220 of these waves coming in at 100 meters per second, scientists hope that it will compress the plasma into a fusion reaction. And since the majority of the tech consists of long-established machinery, costs will be low.

If successful, General Fusion believes they can ultimately create a fusion reactor rated at 100 megawatts, that could potentially power a grid for 500 million dollars. The most recent contribution of 9 million dollars for General Fusion brings the total funding to 14 million, but they’ll need 37 million more over five years to build a working prototype. Um, can we pass a collection plate around? [MIT Tech Review and Xconomy]

The 125,000-square-foot facility was one of the crown jewels of the world of particle physics back then, but at this point its sadly outdated and has outlived its usefulness. But back in the ’50s, it earned a Nobel Prize for Emilio Segré and Owen Chamberlain, who discovered the antiproton within a year of the Bevatron’s completion.

Just think: how long will it take for us to decide that the Large Hadron Collider is an outdated piece of junk? And what will we be replacing it with? [Wired Science]