The Man Shot By a Particle Beam
Given the recent startup of the Large Hadron Collider, it seems timely to remember the tale of Anatoli Bugorski.
On July 13, 1978 Bugorski leaned down to check a part in a U-70 synchrotron particle accelerator. He saw a brilliant flash of light. He had just become the first man to be shot through the head by a particle beam. Miraculously, he survived, although the left side of his face was paralyzed. The beam was highly radioactive, but also very focused, and therefore the radiation didn't disperse into his body. More details at Forgetomori.
What would happen if someone were hit by the LHC's particle beam? I doubt they'd fare as well as Bugorski. To put its power in perspective, Scientific American calculated that it could defrost a pizza in 30 nanoseconds (billionths of a second), assuming the beam energy could be spread across the entire surface of the pizza.
On July 13, 1978 Bugorski leaned down to check a part in a U-70 synchrotron particle accelerator. He saw a brilliant flash of light. He had just become the first man to be shot through the head by a particle beam. Miraculously, he survived, although the left side of his face was paralyzed. The beam was highly radioactive, but also very focused, and therefore the radiation didn't disperse into his body. More details at Forgetomori.
What would happen if someone were hit by the LHC's particle beam? I doubt they'd fare as well as Bugorski. To put its power in perspective, Scientific American calculated that it could defrost a pizza in 30 nanoseconds (billionths of a second), assuming the beam energy could be spread across the entire surface of the pizza.
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Category: Science