Today I will attempt to serve you a dish that even I have never feasted upon.. Recent news have highlighted the advancement of scientific achievements - namely the emergence of of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).. Many of us may scratch our heads until the follicles of our hair begin to fall, and we still ponder on what is this thing.. For the laymen (like me), the news on this achievement may somewhat mean nothing unless we sit down and try to read a line or two about it.. Well, I did some reading on it and maybe I could write a small bit about what I understand from my reading - does not necessarily mean what it actually is!
Big Bang Theory
In 1927, Georges Lemaitre proposed a model of the universe's birth.. He proposed that 13.7 billion years ago, a cosmic explosion occurred and subsequently resulted in 'time' and 'space'.. It is true that this theory is simpler said that understood.. Lemaitre initially named this Hypothesis of the Primeval Atom, but the nickname the Big Bang Theory was the one widely used.. I will not even try to dwell any further into this.. We could maybe ask one of our physics teachers if we want to know more..The Big Bang theory is one of the ideas that have transformed the Mathematics and Physics world.. Several others include Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity (1921) with the famous E=mc2, the Quantum theory, the String theory and Sir Isaac Newton's theory of universal gravitation and the laws of motion (1687) of which he described in his seminal book Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica.. Since then, scientists have attempted to unlock the mysteries of the universe, trying bit by bit, from multiple of angles, proposing hundreds of hypothesis and ideas - but, for what? - to simplify all of these observations into one theory (if possible) : the theory of 'everything', the Theory of Supersymmetry!
This is a lot of information to process! Yes, but scientists being scientists, as do 'normal' people do, we seek answers for almost everything! ANSWERS - that's what we all want, one answer to all questions! But what does these theories and hypotheses and ideas have to do with us today? Why is the question only raised (publicly) now?
Is It A Bird? Is It A Plane? No! It's A Supercollider! A What?!
Once the LHC is switched on, it demarcates the launch of scientific excellence and, possibly, superiority of the Europeans on top of the United States.. LHC is a superconducting magnet that operates close to absolute zero (the temperature at which all atoms cease all movement) and then accelerates these particles to energy 99.999% of light speed and this instrument also has the capability to detect even the faintest of whispers of particles much smaller than atoms.. The European Organisation of Nuclear Research (CERN) spent roughly $8 billion digging a 27-kilometre tunnel near the Swiss-France border.. It is also, to some people, known as the Geneva Machine.. There are about 9,000 scientists on the project, from the four corners of the world including India, Russia, Japan, Turkey and Israel, not to mention from the more modern countries like the United States, France, Great Britain and Germany..
Where did the $8 billion come from? The US chipped in a massive $500 million, but this is barely 5% of the tab.. Germany tossed in 20% of the price tag, the British 17% and French 14%.. As stated above, this is more than just physics and mathematics in play, but psychologically puts the US behind the Europeans in the race of scientific excellency..
However, we need to remember that in the recent decades, the US has been the one leading the world in particle physics.. In fact, before the LHC, there was another supercollider and it was in the US.. A 30-km tunnel was dug in Texas to house the Superconducting Supercollider.. At the time, Ronald Regan was the premier.. Yes, it was bigger than the LHC and more expensive.. The US spent $8.4 billion and without the help of international partners.. This was a project described by Ronald Regan as 'the doorway to a new world'.. The project was the news in late 1980's and early 1990's.. Waxahachie town was put on the map.. However, in 1993 the cost estimates had swollen to a gigantic $11 billion, the US congress had to pull the plug.. The attempts to 'down-grade yet capitalise' on the site to become a counter-terrorism training facility and site for a prison all collapsed.. It is now abandoned, home of weed at best.. There are others, too.. Fermilab has a collider in Chicago called Tevatron and CERN has a e+e- collider before LHC..What does this LHC do, anyway? This machine is a particle accelerator.. It is 4.3km in radius and the superconducting magnets steer the protons around a ring until it accelerates at a peak of 7 trillion electron volts (eV).. The technology in the LHC enables itself to produce 100 times the number of collisions per second of any other collider in the world.. The machine will then detect the energy and the computers will then process the data to enable the scientists to have a peek on the world of small, to find the answers about the universe.. Maybe then, the quest for a unifying theory will come closer to achievement.. Maybe there is a simpler explanation for the ideas behind the force-carrying particle Higgs boson, the intertwining complexity between gravity-electromagnetism-weak force-strong force, the muons and neutrinos, and the similarity and differences between quarks and leptons!
Yes, this machine sounded doing an experiment very vague indeed.. It is important that we realise this is not a once-off experiment but the machine will become the dream hotel for the world's scientists for the next few years, if not more.. Not to worry, despite recent scare in the media about the LHC producing a black hole that could potentially swallow the earth and its contents, scientists have reassured that this would not happen..
Faith and Science : Balancing Belief and The Quest For Answers
The ever-growing science field and technology supporting the need to provide tools to gain answers have somewhat, in general, tipped the balance between faith and knowledge..
Science have opened our eyes all these years to the once-mystical area.. Years ago, people were hunted if they believed that the earth is round and not flat.. And the breakthrough of the idea that the earth was not flat only came about in the 6th century BC by Greek philosopher Phythagoras.. Though very hard on the cultural and theological belief of the people at that time, he defied the odds and worked (possibly, in the name of knowledge or science, spearheaded by curiosity) on his theory through until it is accepted today.. Yet, he proposed the idea without the technological advantage of a Hubble telescope! Since then, as far as science is concerned, developments after developments have emerged to satisfy the thirst for knowledge and answers among scientists.. And science develop alongside the questions asked.. From Galileo's telescope to the Hubble to the Sputnik and now to the supercolliders, we witness the growth of scientific technology to feed on the hunger for scientists' answer!
However, what does this thirst and hunger do to us, scientists? As we can see, the development of science have shifted the world's mind from previously believing in the mystical and divine magical towards fact-based, scientific-explanation line of thinking.. People now tend to find a logical explanation of things rather than leaving that to belief merely.. Men used to believe that storms are the wrath of God, but now storms are the interactions of particles of different charges.. The dragon swallowed the sun and night came, but scientifically it is the rotation of the earth on its axis and the rotation of the moon around the earth that makes the shifts between night and day.. Men seek logical explanation all the time.. What this phenomenon does to society is people began to question the work of God..
It is not unusual to find atheists among scientists nowadays.. And this is not new.. Galileo and Einstein were both atheists! Where do we draw the line when to stop searching for answers? Is it the curiosity and strive for answers that produce magnificent minds at the cost of crumbling belief in faith and God? This is the worrying question I have in the setting of the media-driven scientific explorations.. Faith and theological beliefs now are somewhat confined to mosques, churches and temples, whereas science is 'life'.. It should be the other way round!
"Who believe in the Ghaib and perform As-salat and spend out of what We have provided for them (ie give zakat)" [Surah Al-Baqarah : 3]
The word Ghaib is mentioned to signify that Allah (or God) has His area that no human mind could ever achieve to understand - heaven, hell, death, life.. This sentence in the Holy Quran should be enough to hold all muslims' hearts to know when to say stop looking for answers.. When we start questioning the unseeable, we are standing on a thin ice!
Big Bang And Me
The scientific world has somewhat engulfed me with answerable questions, yet many more to learn and find out.. Being in the medical profession, maybe I am standing on an ice so thin if I am not careful.. I see people die and much are done to these people.. I wake up every morning and remind myself that my purpose of being a doctor is not about curing a disease, even further from about prolonging life, but to help these people.. And leave the outcome to God..
This is indeed a very lengthy entry.. I might just close this one with questions, rather than my opinion of things.. I have debated my statements quite so thoroughly, enough for you readers to ponder and evaluate yourself, and hopefully able to answer these questions..
- How does this scientific world affect your belief in religion and God?
- Do we strive for answers so much to feed on our thirst for knowledge?
- Have you ever said 'stop' to yourself in the quest for answers?
- Are you being careful in your quest for these answers as not to cross the boundary?
- Do you reflect in yourself and return to Allah (or God) at the end of the day?
- Are you grateful that Allah has given you the knowledge that you have now?
- What is your next step in the quest for life? Is it answers or belief?
I hope I have shed some light to enable us to answer these questions.. Till then, until we meet again..
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