Just in time for Christmas ... 1.2TeV collisions at LHC

For me this is a much needed antidote to drivel of No-Sci from the GOP and their rag-tag camp followers. Science Rules!

The Large Hadron Collector is back online. First collisions achieved on Nov. 23rd. LHC is a "big gun" to hunt for the "God Particle", the Higgs Boson. The Higgs is the only particle in the Standard Model of Particle Physics which hasn’t yet been detected.

They expect to ramp up to 1.2 TeV per beam to achieve the world’s highest energy collisions just before Christmas.

As time goes on and more collisions are made, we will record events in which the constituents of the protons collide with more energy, leading to sprays of particles transverse to the beam direction which we call “jets”. For example, a quark in one proton hitting an antiquark in the other proton with, say, a couple hundred GeV can produce two jets of 100 GeV going in opposite directions (from the beam’s eye view). Such dijet events will provide a very useful sample of data for aligning and calibrating the detector.

Only after the beam intensity and the center of mass energy is a lot higher will we expect to see rarer and more interesting processes like W and Z boson production, and top quark pair production (top-antitop pairs). There are plans to collide at 2.4 TeV (higher than the 1.96 TeV at the Tevatron) before the end of the year if all goes well, and to 7 TeV early next year.

Beyond the God Particle ... Physicists at the Cosmic Variance blog have some fun with predictions. A interesting read on the cool soup of particle physics What Will the LHC Find?

Sen. Jim Webb on HCR

From Senator Jim Webb's website

During the course of the health care reform debate, my staff and I have met with health care providers, community leaders, and concerned citizens from across Virginia about the need to reform our nation’s health care system. In addition, we have received and responded to more than 40,000 e-mails, letters and phone calls from Virginians concerning the health care debate.

The need for proper health reform in the United States is great. But, equally important, we need to get it right. Our economy can ill-afford the current, increasingly expensive health care system.

Reforming health care for millions of Americans is an enormous challenge, with sweeping implications. I have stated on several occasions my concerns that the Obama administration should have begun the health care process with a clear, detailed proposal that could have been the starting point for the work of the five separate congressional committees charged with responsibility for this issue. Without such a specific framework, Congress has had difficulty crafting a bill of such challenging scope and complexity.

Despite the challenges that we have faced in Washington, I remain hopeful that we can achieve effective and meaningful reform for our people.

Spiraling costs for health care have placed our biggest industries at a severe competitive disadvantage, as employers struggle to provide insurance for their workers. By the same token, families are increasingly unable to depend on their health care plans when they need them the most. This has contributed to the mortgage foreclosure crisis and the rise in personal bankruptcies. In short, our nation’s continued economic recovery would be advanced by meaningful health care reform. Such reform must emphatically be reasonable in scope, cost, and impact.

As we work through the different proposals in Congress, I will be looking to see that legislation makes health care more affordable and accessible for more Americans, without creating a cumbersome, overly-bureaucratic system. I will look for opportunities to regulate insurance companies that make large profits, charge too much for administrative costs and, as a result, devote less money to health care. I will be taking a close look at how we restructure Medicare so that quality and value are rewarded, access is expanded, and rural communities are protected.

I want to continue to hear from all Virginians on this pressing issue. I invite you to share your thoughts and ideas with me, and to continue to check my website for updated information about the health care reform debate.

Sen. Mark Warner on hard work ahead on HCR

Dear Mr. Murray,

Thank you for contacting me about reforming our nation's health care system. I appreciate hearing from you on such an important issue. Over the past few months, I have traveled around Virginia to hear from people all over the Commonwealth on the issue of health care. Since June, my office has been contacted over 200,000 times by constituents on both sides of the debate. Hearing from constituents is a vital part of my job as a United States Senator and I hope you will continue to share your opinions with me as the health care debate takes shape.

A fundamental principle that must guide us through this debate is the fact that our current health care system is financially unsustainable. While many are concerned about our Federal deficit, most do not realize that the primary cause of our deficit is the increasing per-person costs of Medicare and Medicaid; by 2017, Medicare will be insolvent. Additionally, American business is weakened by the current costs of health care. Per capita health care costs in the United States are double that of virtually every other developed nation in the world, leaving American business at a disadvantage and unable to compete in a global economy. American families also suffer from the rising costs of health care: within the next decade, premiums will consume 40 percent of an average American family's income. To do nothing about the current state of our health care system would mean exploding our national debt, hobbling American business and crippling family budgets.

Although I do not support a government-run single-payer health care system, I believe we need comprehensive reform to achieve a competitive, cost-effective, and efficient system. This effort should be primarily focused on ensuring that all Americans can get adequate health coverage, and the coverage must be cost-effective and based upon data-driven medical standards. We must ensure that competition remains among health care providers because it is precisely that competition that drives innovation and cost reduction in the industry.

The health care reform debate in the Senate has intensified over the last few weeks, with the House of Representatives passing its version of the bill. The Senate also recently unveiled its version and is expected to consider the bill on the floor in the coming weeks. I continue to review the bill and am actively engaged in discussions with my fellow Senators to make improvements once it comes to the floor. These improvements will focus on reforming our payment system, increasing transparency in the system, improving prevention and wellness, and strengthening health information technology.

I encourage you to visit my website, www.warner.senate.gov/healthcare, for additional information. I have posted the complete text of the bill, as well as the CBO cost estimate. Unfortunately the health care debate has resulted in a lot of myths and misinformation about the various bills being considered. Nonpartisan websites such as www.factcheck.org or www.politifact.org can be helpful in explaining specific provisions and clearing up confusion about this complex issue.

Thanks again for contacting me. As we move forward, I will continue to seek out the advice and opinions of all Virginians in order to help shape an improved health care system that will be in all of our best interests.

Sincerely,
MARK R. WARNER
United States Senator


UPDATE - on vote to proceed with debate...

“I will vote to move this legislation onto the Senate floor because I want an opportunity to work to strengthen and improve the bill. If we do not move forward on health insurance reform, premiums for Virginia families will continue to rise, employers will remain at a competitive disadvantage in the global marketplace, and federal budget deficits will go from bad to worse.

“Thus far, only those senators on the Health and Finance committees have had an opportunity to shape this legislation. Advancing the bill to the Senate floor provides an opportunity for the rest of us in the Senate to have a constructive role in making this legislation better.

“For weeks now, I have been working with several of my colleagues on a series of potential floor amendments that we believe will further reduce the cost of health care, strengthening transparency and encouraging innovation to cut costs across the health care delivery system.

“Tonight's vote to move forward with debate on the bill is a starting point, and it allows us to continue working to include these amendments in the final legislation. I will only support a final bill if I am convinced it will lower the deficit, drive down health care costs over the long term, and improve the value and quality of the health care Virginians receive.”