Till date Higgs Boson is the single missing piece of the Standard Model yet to be spotted. Electromagnetism describes how particles interact with photons, tiny packets of electromagnetic radiation. The strong force binds the elements of atomic nuclei together, and the weak force governs radioactivity and hydrogen fusion (which generates the sun's energy).

Why should I be aware of this?

If God Particle is found the present theory of particle physics will be proved correct. If not physicists will have to develop another theory. There is another school of thoughts which oppose the experiment. The opponents, who have taken its architects to court in the United States and France, believe it will create black holes in which the Earth could disappear. But scientist on the project assure that they will blink in and out of existence before anything scary happens.

God Particle and social/mental health

There are reports of a section of people traumatized by news of Big Bang experiment and the fear created by rumors about the end of the world. A 16-year old girl from Madhya Pradesh, India, killed herself by consuming pesticide after watching doomsday predictions made on Indian news programmes.

In East India several people prayed and fasted for Divine intervention to save the world. Many women and children visited temples and prayed for deliverance, according to official reports

All about God Particle

Does Higgs Boson exist?
To determine whether the Higgs Boson exists, researchers must smash other particles together at very high speeds. If the energy from that collision is high enough, it is converted into smaller bits of matter -- particles -- one of which could be a Higgs Boson. Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the most powerful particle accelerator ever built, is the Big Bang test machine which is expected to open a new window on the universe. The Big Bang machine has already been switched on and the protons have completed their first circuit. The eventual collision of two proton beams is scheduled for October 21, which scientists hope will create a ‘mini-bang’, mimicking conditions that existed a “microsecond” after the Big Bang almost 14 billion years ago.

The first test fired a beam of protons clockwise around the 17-mile tunnel of the collider deep under the rolling fields along the Swiss-French border. Then another beam was sent in the opposite, counterclockwise direction The beams will gradually be filled with more protons and fired at near the speed of light in opposite directions around the tunnel, making 11,000 circuits a second. They will travel down the middle of two tubes about the width of fire hoses, speeding through a vacuum that is colder than outer space. At four points in the tunnel, the scientist will use giant magnets to cross the beams and cause protons to collide. The collider's two largest detectors — essentially huge digital cameras weighing thousands of tons — are capable of taking millions of snapshots a second.

It is likely to be several weeks before the first significant collisions. The first test fired a beam of protons clockwise around the 17-mile tunnel of the collider deep under the rolling fields along the Swiss-French border. Then another beam was sent in the opposite, counter-clockwise direction.

The beams will gradually be filled with more protons and fired at near the speed of light in opposite directions around the tunnel, making 11,000 circuits a second. They will travel down the middle of two tubes about the width of fire hoses, speeding through a vacuum that is colder than outer space. At four points in the tunnel, the scientist will use giant magnets to cross the beams and cause protons to collide. The collider's two largest detectors — essentially huge digital cameras weighing thousands of tons — are capable of taking millions of snapshots a second.

It is likely to be several weeks before the first significant collisions

"Dark matter" and antimatter

The CERN experiments could reveal more about "dark matter," antimatter and possibly hidden dimensions of space and time. Smaller colliders have been used for decades to study the makeup of the atom. Scientists once thought protons and neutrons were the smallest components of an atom's nucleus, but experiments have shown that protons and neutrons are made of quarks and gluons and that there are other forces and particles.

The experiments could help scientists find answers to some of the biggest questions in physics, such as why the universe looks the way it does, and how to explain mass, gravity and mysterious "dark matter".

Being the fastest growing grass which can shoot up a yard or more a day, bamboo reaches maturity quickly and is ready for harvesting in about 4 years. Bamboo does not require replanting after harvesting because its vast root network continually sprouts new shoots which almost zoom up while you watch them, pulling in sunlight and greenhouse gases and converting them to new green growth. And all this happens naturally, without the need for petroleum-guzzling tractors and poisonous pesticides and fertilizers.

But the environmental advantage gained by the fact that bamboo is a rapidly renewable resource is outweighed by the environmental cost of transporting the bamboo to long from where it is grown.

Modern Uses of Bamboo

Dell CEO Michael Dell unveiled a “never before seen” eco-inspired computer with a bamboo casing’s speech at the Fortune Green conference in April 2008. The computer is 81 percent smaller than a standard desktop, uses 70 percent less power and is filled with recycled materials like old bottles, milk jugs and detergent cases. While Dell wouldn’t give the name of the bamboo box, he said the product would come out later this year and would likely range in price between $500 and $700. It is rightly believed by many that no other plant has had the impact that bamboo has had on so many cultures over such an extended period of time. But now, with the help of technology, scores of new uses have been found for the age old bamboo. Here are some --

• Bamboo furniture
• Bamboo flooring
• Bamboo blinds
• Bamboo is a very comfortable eco-fibre which is naturally anti-microbial. Due to the presence of micro pores, the fabric absorbs three times more moisture than cotton, making it very comfortable to wear in the hot summer.

Source: http://www.copperwiki.org/index.php/Bamboo

More and more people are questioning whether the water, and the package it comes in, is safe, or at least safer than tap water -- and if the convenience is worth the environmental impact.

Over the past two decades, people have increasingly been shifting to bottled water because they consider it safe, find it refreshing, calorie-free, convenient to carry around, tastier than some tap water and healthier than soft drinks.

Drinking-water may be contaminated by a range of chemical, microbial and physical hazards that could pose risks to health if they are present at high levels. Examples of chemical hazards include lead, arsenic and benzene. Microbial hazards, include bacteria, viruses and parasites, such as Vibrio cholerae, hepatitis A virus, and Crytosporidium parvum, respectively. Physical hazards include glass chips and metal fragments. Because of the large number of possible hazards in drinking-water, the development of standards for drinking-water requires significant resources and expertise, which many countries are unable to afford.

Bottled water and the environment

1. While the bottles come from far away, most of them end up close to home -- in a landfill. Most bottled water comes in recyclable PET plastic bottles, but only about 13 percent of the bottles we use get recycled.

2. Plastics travel through our sewage system and land up in the oceans. This poses a huge threat to marine life. To a sea turtle, a floating plastic bag looks like a jellyfish. And plastic pellets, the small hard pieces of plastic from which plastic products are made, look like fish eggs to seabirds. Drifting nets entangle birds, fish and mammals, making it difficult, if not impossible to move or eat. As our consumption of plastic mounts, so too does the danger to marine life.

Bottled water and your health

Some substances may prove more difficult to manage in bottled than tap water. This is generally because bottled water is stored for longer periods and at higher temperatures than water distributed in piped distribution systems. Control of materials used in containers and closures for bottled waters is, therefore, of special concern. In addition, some micro-organisms, which are normally of little or no public health significance, may grow to higher levels in bottled waters. This growth appears to occur less frequently in gasified water and in water bottled in glass containers compared to still water and water bottled in plastic containers. There have also been reports of fraud in which ordinary tap water has been added to used mineral water bottles and sold as the original article. Consumers may not be able to detect this by taste alone and, if concern is warranted, should examine the closures of bottled waters carefully before purchase and insist on seeing bottles opened in their presence in restaurants and other food and beverage service establishments.

Reference:

http://www.copperwiki.org/index.php/Bottled_water

CopperWiki gives us choices for living a healthy, responsible and sustainable life. Most of us are aware of the importance of conscious living and the urgency of making this concept a way of life.

The CopperWiki world informs, encourages, and shares the best practices for living responsibly as individuals, community, society, nation and as a planet. It is a fast conductor for information—which otherwise exists piecemeal at various places.

CopperWiki is all about creating awareness

Awareness about existing practices and products; their benefits and harmful impact.

• Awareness about choices.
• Awareness about effectiveness of various options.
• Awareness about myths and facts.
• Awareness about traditional knowledge.
• Awareness about the impact of our actions.
• Awareness about dying species, depleting resources, deteriorating environment and disappearing cultures, traditions and art forms.

It questions the established practices of our time

• Research is conducted to see impact of existing products.
• Research is done to find the efficacy of the existing practices.
• What do experts say in this regard?
• What do the non-conventional schools of thought say about it?
• Do these products and practices deliver the promised results?
• What is their impact on us, our planet and our environment?

It informs the reader about the choices available

• What are the choices available to us?
• What is the positive and negative impact of these choices on us/our environment and our planet?
• Why are people choosing these options?
• What can we do as individuals and communities to protect the dying species, depleting resources, deteriorating environment and disappearing cultures, traditions and art forms.
• If we ignore this, what do we stand to lose as individuals, self and society – the impact on us and the environment at large?

Best practices of our times

• What are the best practices being followed in various parts of the world?
• What are the benefits of these practices?
• What are the negative impacts of these practices?
• Are there any factors ( local/ regional/seasonal/beliefs etc) that guided the adoption of these best practices in a particular area/areas.

Useful tips

• How to select a particular product?
• How to read the fine print on the labels?
• Are there any certifications/ bodies/ researches available on this subject that I can refer to for making more informed choices?
• How do I ensure that my green fabric is actually green or my organic egg is actually organic?
• How to use the product/ apply a practice to gain the maximum benefits and minimize the negative impact.
• What can I do to protect dying species, depleting resources, deteriorating environment and disappearing cultures, traditions and art forms.
• A complete did-you-know about things that matter to the majority of us.

Your Local Guide to Conscious Living

CopperWiki will emphasise on local knowledge, local products and practices because by using local products we can directly reduce our carbon footprint.

CopperWiki platform will strive to be a source of local knowledge. It will work towards building a global database of local practices, know-how and usages.
It will be a platform to share the knowledge base acquired by indigenous and local peoples over hundred of years through direct experience and contact with the environment.
The local product and practices highlighted on this platform will be a product of keen observation, patience, experimentation, and long term relationship with plants and animals.

The local wiki will aim at giving the people the required information to enable people to practice conscious living in their local environment.

It will provide information about how they can you source their choices, how they can make things happen and where can they start.

What can you do here?

CopperWiki is a collaborative writing project where anybody can search for an article, write a new article and edit an article. While writing or editing an article, a few things should be kept in mind.

It is an ‘editable’ platform

CopperWiki strives to improve the quality of already existing articles. Anybody can edit any page barring a few exception such as semi protected pages and protected pages. These pages pertain to administration, policy and guidelines of CopperWiki.

It is advisable to discuss the changes and additions you intend to make on the discussion page of the article and make the changes after arriving at a consensus there. Remember to mention the purpose of your edit in an edit summary. This reduces the chances of your changes being reverted.