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Post by eckadimmock on Sept 9, 2008 23:30:15 GMT
I'm sort of intrigued by the Large hadron collider that aims to recreate conditions following the big bang, and by some claims that it may create black holes and suck in the entire planet. news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10036245-76.htmlThe scientists are sure that won't happen, but there would be something hilariously human about that end to the Earth. It would also neatly answer two questions about the universe: 1) Why have we found no other intelligent civilizations? 2) Where do black holes come from? |
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Post by unkleE on Sept 10, 2008 1:16:30 GMT
I loved your wry take on this.
I found it interesting too. I did a blog on this and got a strong anti CERN and then a strong pro CERN response within days - are both sides out there patrolling the web seeking to win the PR battle?
My biggest issue was the CERN safety report which concluded there is "little theoretical chance of the collider producing mini black holes that would be capable of posing a danger to the earth". I don't know how the eminent scientists would describe "little chance" mathematically, but I would have thought that, when the earth is at stake , "little chance" is still a little too much!
Their confidence will presumably be verifiable, but not falsifiable by us!
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Post by eckadimmock on Sept 10, 2008 2:21:27 GMT
Yes, so after billions of years of the universe expanding, evolution, civilization and enlightnement, our last word will be: "oops" !
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Post by James Hannam on Sept 10, 2008 8:57:46 GMT
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Post by bjorn on Sept 10, 2008 13:13:04 GMT
This Cern black hole hype has been around for years. It has become so common that even the first episode of BBC's Sarah Jane Adventures (a Doctor Who spin off) from 2007 had K9 busy trying to stop such a black hole.
Hopefully he will keep at it.
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Post by unkleE on Sept 10, 2008 22:03:07 GMT
Don't be so hasty! They say it will take some time for the mini black holes to eat up the earth. Have you heard from anyone in Switzerland today? : ) |
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Post by merkavah12 on Sept 11, 2008 4:12:09 GMT
Greetings all! Now correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't these particle collisions supposed to have little more force than a human hand clap? I think that we are more in danger from not finding anything at all from this experiment (thus wasting billions) than from the LHC causing a strange matter cascade effect, opening black holes, summoning Galactus, or any of the hundreds of possible doomsday scenarios it is reported to cause. ........though the thought of the world being destroyed by applause amuses the cynic in me.  |
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