Proton Accelerator and the End of the World as We Know It

muddle's picture

Perhaps you've seen the news about the 17 mile proton accelerator that is supposed to simulate the conditions of the Big Bang.

Interesting stuff.

But then this line, from the CNN report, caught my eye:

Skeptics, who claim that the experiment could lead to the creation of a black hole capable of swallowing the planet, failed in a legal bid to halt the project at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

Um, guys? Are you sure you know what you're doing? Guys?

muddle's blog | login to post comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
The 5-0's picture
Submitted by The 5-0 on Wed, 09/10/2008 - 1:23pm.

LHC (the atom-smasher) will recreate in an controlled environment, what happens every day all across the universe for billions of years. Those countless collisions haven't destroyed life yet, so why worry about small man-made ones?

If tiny black holes are created, then that would help us understand the nature of black matter and possibly prove the existence of spatial dimensions!


muddle's picture
Submitted by muddle on Wed, 09/10/2008 - 2:07pm.

If tiny black holes are created, then that would help us understand the nature of black matter and possibly prove the existence of spatial dimensions!

And it might create an entirely new technology for exterminating cockroaches (or at least shooting them into a parallel universe for someone else to deal with).

Wait. "Prove the existence of spatial dimensions?" I move left, then right, then up, then down.

Don't I already know about these?

____________________

"Puddleglum" by Weatherwax (one of the Muddlings).

Jeeves to the Rescue


The 5-0's picture
Submitted by The 5-0 on Wed, 09/10/2008 - 3:16pm.

It would prove that there are other planes of existence outside of our spatial dimensions.

This could prove and expand the string theory (and much others).


JeffC's picture
Submitted by JeffC on Wed, 09/10/2008 - 2:53pm.

I predict that if the Large Hadron Collider creates a black hole it will become a worldwide tourist attraction. The black hole would immediately sink though the earth and go into orbit around the Earth’s core. Presumably microscopic at first, as it orbited it would gradually grow as it sucked in molecules getting larger and larger but it might take 50 years to eventually swallow the entire Earth and that would mostly happen very quickly at the very end. Scientist would be able to track it easily and we would know well in advance precisely where it would appear in each orbit. Its orbit would never be any higher than the elevation of Zurich where it was created (about 1400 feet above sea level) but that leaves a huge area of the world where it could be seen and saves all the ski slopes until the end too! A win-win situation. People would flock to see it! Ocean cruises would be formed to watch it come out of the sea. Of course they wouldn’t actually see the hole but they would see the stuff being sucked in and instantaneously vanishing. People would probably stand near the sites where it would be appearing and countdown then throw stuff at it or shine a flashlight across its path and have their friends watch the light beam bend. Except for the ionizing radiation and the unfortunate end of the world it would be great fun!


Richard Hobbs's picture
Submitted by Richard Hobbs on Wed, 09/10/2008 - 4:30pm.

Man, my head hurts. I read up on all of these Einsteinian Theories and just when I'm ready to say, "Hey, I think I might understand" then I blink and it's all gone.

So unless and until I can fathom "dark matter", the "string theory", or the "twin slits" theory, not to mention the German guy's cat, that is both dead and alive at the same time, I'll just wait till I'm sucked into the black hole.


Fred Garvin's picture
Submitted by Fred Garvin on Wed, 09/10/2008 - 3:02pm.

DragNet's picture
Submitted by DragNet on Thu, 09/11/2008 - 8:06pm.

Black or white holes?

What about the hole in our economy (9 trillion dollars deficit) that we, our sons and grandsons will have to pay as a courtesy to the Republicans and the worst presidential administration ever?

-----------------------------------
Making you think twice......


Fred Garvin's picture
Submitted by Fred Garvin on Thu, 09/11/2008 - 9:35pm.

I know this may be hard for you to answer, but can you name the 3 co-equal branches of government?


DragNet's picture
Submitted by DragNet on Thu, 09/11/2008 - 9:39pm.

which...Bush, Cheney (Halliburton) and Rumsfeld?

-----------------------------------
Making you think twice......


Submitted by eldergent on Wed, 09/10/2008 - 10:23am.

Could this possibly be the European version of "Hey ya'll, watch this"?

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.