From Phys.org:Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air
and feather canyons everywhere, I've looked at clouds that way.
But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone.
So many things I would have done but clouds got in my way.I've looked at clouds from both sides now,
from up and down, and still somehow
it's cloud illusions I recall.
I really don't know clouds at all....-Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now, 1967
CERN's colossal complex of accelerators is in the midst of a two-year shutdown for upgrade work. But that doesn't mean all experiments at the Laboratory have ceased to operate. The CLOUD experiment, for example, has just started a data run that will last until the end of November.Here's CERN's explanation of what they do:
The CLOUD experiment studies how ions produced by high-energy particles called cosmic rays affect aerosol particles, clouds and the climate. It uses a special cloud chamber and a beam of particles from the Proton Synchrotron to provide an artificial source of cosmic rays. For this run, however, the cosmic rays are instead natural high-energy particles from cosmic objects such as exploding stars.
"Cosmic rays, whether natural or artificial, leave a trail of ions in the chamber," explains CLOUD spokesperson Jasper Kirkby, "but the Proton Synchrotron provides cosmic rays that can be adjusted over the full range of ionisation rates occurring in the troposphere, which comprises the lowest ten kilometres of the atmosphere. That said, we can also make progress with the steady flux of natural cosmic rays that make it into our chamber, and this is what we're doing now."...MUCH MORE
And some of our posts on cosmic rays:
"We still don’t know where cosmic rays are coming from"
"Alien particles from outer space are wreaking low-grade havoc on personal electronic devices"
Space Weather (and beyond)
Attn: Flight Attendants, Pilots, Frequent Flyers: Cosmic Rays Can Kill You
From October 20, 2014's
Earth's Magnetic Field May Be About to Flip
"About to" is relative. In geologic terms it is imminent. In biological, maybe within a lifetime.
I plan to be around to see what effect the uptick in solar and cosmic radiation will have on CERN's CLOUD experiment results.
From the University of California-Berkeley....
To last night's ""How To Prove Einstein's Relativity In The Palm Of Your Hand"" which has directions for making your own cloud chamber.
