Quark–gluon plasma (QGP) is an unusual state of matter that appears under tremendous pressure and heat. At temperatures exceeding 100,000 times those at the Sun’s center, particles such as protons and neutrons can no longer maintain their normal structure. Instead, they break apart into quarks and the gluons that ordinarily bind them together.
Physicists believe that this was the state of matter throughout the universe during the first millionths of a second after the Big Bang. Nearly 14 billion years later, researchers can briefly recreate these extraordinary conditions by smashing atomic nuclei together at extremely high energies inside the LHC.
Looks like the nerds created a nerds cluster
At temperatures exceeding 100,000 times those at the Sun’s center
How much is that in bananas?
It’s one banana, sat on by OP’s mom.
Pie.
Nice link, simple excerpt :
2026-July-24It was previously thought that colliding heavy ions such as lead – which is over 200 times heavier than the protons typically collided at the LHC – was the only way to create the conditions necessary to form QGP. But recently this premise has been thoroughly challenged, including earlier this year when the ALICE Collaboration, which specialises in the study of this extreme state of matter, reported a new sign of QGP from proton–proton and proton–lead collisions. And last year, the LHC Collaborations opened up a new probe of QGP when they found the first hints of QGP from oxygen–oxygen collisions. Now, having searched even more deeply, the LHC experiments have seen multiple signs of QGP formation in oxygen–oxygen and neon–neon collisions.
Oh, good to hear they’re dialing the energy back. Ever since they ramped up to 13 TeV, reality has been breaking down and I haven’t enjoyed it at all.
Demoncrat fake news! 😤
Nah, we can satire better than that.
We keep getting closer!
Wonder if they can trigger cosmic inflation in their lab.
