I’m fascinated by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the great discoveries that it will reveal. Ironically, I have heard very little about it in the technology community. How might these discoveries impact Open Innovation and Venture Capital? They might change the landscape of technology, making under appreciated technologies high value, and the inverse.
Below is the best article I’ve seen on the LHC, it is a reprint from LA Times written by Steve Giddings (a physics professor at the University of California Santa Barbara) – Ben duPont
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Despite all we have learned in physics — from properties of faraway galaxies to the deep internal structure of the protons and neutrons that make up an atomic nucleus — we still face vexing mysteries. The collider is poised to begin to unravel them. By colliding protons at ultra-high energies and allowing scientists to observe the outcome in its mammoth detectors, the LHC could open new frontiers in understanding space and time, the microstructure of matter and the laws of nature.
We know, for example, that all the types of matter we see, that constitute our ordinary existence, are a mere fraction — 20 percent — of the matter in the universe. The remaining 80 percent apparently is mysterious “dark matter”; though it is all around us, its existence is inferred only via its gravitational pull on visible matter. LHC collisions might produce dark-matter particles so we can study their properties directly and thereby unveil a totally new face of the universe.
The collider might also shed light on the more predominant “dark energy,” which is causing the universe’s expansion to accelerate. If the acceleration continues, the ultimate fate of the universe may be very, very cold, with all particles flying away from one another to infinite distances.
More widely anticipated is the discovery of the Higgs particle — sometimes inaptly called the God particle — whose existence is postulated to explain why some matter has mass. Were it not for the Higgs, or something like it, the electrons in our bodies would behave like light beams, shooting into space, and we would not exist.
If the Higgs is not discovered, its replacement may involve something as profound as another layer of substructure to matter. It might be that the most elementary known particles, like the quarks that make up a proton, are made from tinier things. This would be revolutionary — like discovering the substructure of the atom, but at a deeper level.
More profound still, the LHC may reveal extra dimensions of space, beyond the three that we see. The existence of a completely new type of dimension — what is called “supersymmetry” — means that all known particles have partner particles with related properties. Supersymmetry could be discovered by the LHC producing these “superpartners,” which would make characteristic splashes in its detectors. Superpartners may also make up dark matter — and two great discoveries would be made at once.
Posted by bendupont 
Bloom Energy – Emerges from Stealth; Announces New 100KW Fuel Cell, for $750,000
February 27, 2010www.bloomenergy.com announced a new fuel cell that is being tested at 5 sites (Google, ebay, Walmart (2), and FedEx) in California. These ‘energy servers’ are abut the size of a parking space and can power 80% of a Walmart store. It takes almost any fuel from ethanol to biomass and turns it into electricity.
Fuel cells are nothing new, but Bloom has figured out a way to make them cheaply and efficiently. CEO and Founder, KR Sridhar claims that a Bloom box, which he calls an energy server, is twice as efficient as the electricity grid. “For the same amount of electricity, you need half the fuel,” he says. “If you use a renewable fuel you are carbon neutral. Use all the electricity you want and don’t feel guilty about polluting the environment.”
They cost about $750,000 for a 100 kilowatt system. A typical electricity cost for commercial customers is 8 to 10 cents per kilowatt-hour versus 13 cents for what they might pay a California utility.
Bloom fuel cells are based on a solid oxide technology, quite different than previous fuel cell approaches. It’s the result of $400M in venture funding.
60 Minutes, wont allow me to imbed their video, so there is the link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6228923n&tag=api