TED Talks – Physics

In Brian Greene’s TED talk from Monterrey 2008, he provides an introduction in the idea of string theory. String theory is, basically, the conceptualization that all particles in the universe are made up of strings or string-like objects. These strings vibrate or “dance” at varying frequencies and wavelengths. These variations in vibration frequencies are the basis by which all particles are formed. Also, he states that the universe consists of much more than the 3-dimensions that we have come to understand. The universe is made up of many, very small, circular dimensions on which these strings move.

 

In Brian Cox’s TED talk, also from Monterrey 2008, he gives the audience a background into the huge 28-kilometer CERN Large Hadron Collider (or “LHC”) that was being completed at the time of the talk (now complete). The LHC resides near Geneva, Switzerland near the border with France. He illustrates how in order to gain further knowledge into the quarks and neutrinos that make up particles, and the universe, scientists will use the LHC to collide them at speeds many times the speed of light. The collisions will cause the particles to break apart. When the particles are torn apart, scientists will be watching and analyzing the components to help better understand what everything is made of and, thus, how the universe was created,