Scientists Not So Sure 'Doomsday Machine' Won't Destroy World

[underpants]

Source: Fox News

Still worried that the Large Hadron Collider will create a black hole that will destroy the Earth when it's finally switched on this summer?

Um, well, you may have a point.

Three physicists have reexamined the math surrounding the creation of microscopic black holes in the Switzerland-based LHC, the world's largest particle collider, and determined that they won't simply evaporate in a millisecond as had previously been predicted.

Rather, Roberto Casadio of the University of Bologna in Italy and Sergio Fabi and Benjamin Harms of the University of Alabama say mini black holes could exist for much longer — perhaps even more than a second, a relative eternity in particle colliders, where most objects decay much faster.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,483477,00.html

[truthisfreedom]

1. Oops.

Off by 1000X error?

[RattusRattus]

106. Bwah ha ha ha

My favorite thing about scientists is that there's nothing anyone can do to stop them from screwing with everything in every way possible (excluding violations of ethics, which most scientists find repugnant, so no unnecessarily meanness to animals or people cloning). So really, why worry? We went through this stuff when smashing the atom. It may come down to a "Slaughter House Five," type of ending of the world, but there's nothing to be done about it. If we're doomed, it's because of our natural curiosity.

[Bake]

114. Those decimal points can be really tricksy!

Bake

[Richardo]

2. That's what a Doomsday Machine is for, isn't it?

Why do I feel like I'm in Dr Strangelove?

[underpants]

4. mmmmm YyyyyEEEEESSSS

BwoooHAHAHA

[infidel dog]

71. Mein Fuhrer! I can WALK!!!

[IGotAName]

74. Of course, the whole POINT of a Doomsday Machine is LOST if you keep it a secret! nt

[Richardo]

80. ....VY DIDN'T YOU TELL ZE VURLD?!?!

:D

[originalpckelly]

152. It was going to be anounced at the next party conference...

the Premier likes surprises!

I luv that movie!

[Buzz Clik]

3. So ... can a microscopic black hole destroy the earth in about a second?

[Jack_DeLeon]

5. No, but it could potentially swallow up a couple of atoms and then start to grow...

If some atoms of something get sucked into it then it could grow and last longer because it now has more mass. If this continues for a while gravity would eventually pull it down into the center of the earth.

I dont think the planet would be too happy for too much longer with a black hole in the core eating it out from the inside.

[pasto76]

56. my astrophysics guy from USAFA assures me there would not be enough mass in a "tiny blackhole"

to attract a harsh look.

[jeff47]

60. No, it can't.

These black holes are smaller than atoms. Little difficult for them to "swallow" atoms.

[kimmerspixelated]

70. My God, maybe this is what 2012 is about!

[ngant17]

86. Mayan long count and the JDN

The Julian Day Number (JDN) as used by astronomers to keep track of time on a universal level, we can calcuate the following:
The JDN for 21 Dec 2012 is: 2456282
The JDN for 22 Dec 2012 is: 2456283

No big deal, it's just another day as far as Planet Earth is concerned.

The Mayans had something similar to the JDN, the "long count", which was basically a serial number of days like the JDN, calculated since the beginning of their creation date. Using the Goodman-Martinez-Thompson correlation of 584283, the long count for the day of 21 Dec. 2012 is:

13.0.0.0.0

Tzolk'in: 4 Ahaw
Haab: 3 Kankin

This is the "13th baktun" everyone is talking about. To be consitent, it should take 20 baktuns, not 13 baktuns, to turn over into a "pictun". However this is a debatable issue for some Mayan experts. Thompson has always argued for the 20-baktun cycles. Therefore:

1 pictun = 20 baktun = 2,880,000 days = approx. 7885 years
1 calabtun = 20 pictun = 57,600,000 days = approx. 158,000 years
1 kinchiltun = 20 calabtun = 1,152,000,000 days = approx. 3 million years
1 alautun = 20 kinchiltun = 23,040,000,000 days = approx. 63 million years

I believe the alautun is the longest named period in any calendar.

Again, I would argue that the Mayan calendar and its creation cycles do not end on the 13th baktun, as some insist, but it simply turns over a new cycle which is essentially never-ending. Otherwise, why would they have invented such large time periods beyond the 13th baktun? It's more like the odometer on your car. Your car will not stop running the minute it hits 100,000 miles. It's just another more mile on the road.

BTW the Mayans never divided time into any smaller units other than the day, or "kin". They never measured the hours and minutes and seconds as was done in Europe.

People tend to think that the Mayans had some special knowledge of time that no other culture has. Only partially true, as I would argue that they were only superior in their ability to use very large integers, they had no use for fractions at all, so it was their unique vegisimal number system helped them to work on that level. A number system that the Aztecs also shared.

But you can approximate any irrational number (i.e., pi, e) to any degree of accuracy using the ratio of two sufficiently-large (and prime) integers. I don't know if the Mayans had really understood the power and function of the prime numbers, though.

[Duer 157099]

102. But what about all that "galactic alignment" stuff?

Isn't that something that will actually happen, on that actual timeline? That our solar system will be moving through some particular spot (intersection) of the milky way, or something? It's still not exactly clear to me what they are describing, I've never seen a good enough graphic to get my brain around, but I do know the Mayan calendar is based on something actual, having to do with the "dark rift" of our galaxy.

Or something.

:shrug:

[Zhade]

94. Oh for fuck's sake, PLEASE tell me you're kidding.

NT!

[TankLV]

128. So THAT's why I'm always so hungry lately!

[Lerkfish]

6. naw, only if things around it have mass

so we got nothin...er...wait a minute!

[Omnibus]

7. Short answer...no.

These things are SO tiny (many millions of times smaller than a proton) that the odds of them attracting enough matter to grow instead of vanish is essentially zero, regardless of whether they're around for milliseconds, minutes, or months.

We're much more likely to be destroyed by supernova or massive asteroid strike. (Neither of which is LHC-related.)

[Piewhacket]

41. Famous last words: "What are the odds..."

black holes are not toys, boyz & girlz.

if one collects a few atoms and falls to the core, we'll
never know it until one day we'll be having breakfast,
listening to the news, and between one heartbeat and the next....

(cosmic static)

[hvn_nbr_2]

53. I'll worry when the guy who flips the switch says, "Hey, watch this." nt

[8 track mind]

57. Thank god it's not in Texas,

Otherwise it would be "Hold my beer and watch this!"

[rrneck]

113. I'd worry more about his goofy buddy

who says, "shit, I can do that!"

[Tesha]

79. "Here, hold mah Perrier!" (NT)

[maxrandb]

111. "Now Watch this Drive" n/t

[TankLV]

130. I'm more concerned with the guy who sees a switch & says "What's this do?" just before HE flips it..

[8 track mind]

149. Kind of like "Dee Dee" from Dexter's Labratory

"oooooooooo buttons!!"

[Baby Snooks]

54. And you're Albert Einstein?

No one will know until it is operating at full capacity. And then, well what if you're wrong? What if the geniuses are wrong? It's too late.

That's why some don't want it operating at full capacity. And didn't want it built to begin with. Some things the human ego should just leave alone. And this may prove to be one of them.

[jeff47]

59. Actually, we already know

Actually, we already know it won't create a world-destroying black hole.

First, other supercoliders have already created miniature black holes. They evaporated as expected.

Secondly, we've detected particles that slamed into the upper atmosphere with more energy than the LHC can produce. We're still here.

OTOH, if you're looking for a little publicity to help with your grant applications, there's all sorts of news media that will help your cause if your prediction is dire enough.

[Lorentz]

76. "First, other supercoliders have already created miniature black holes."

Black holes have never been observed in current collider experiments, in part beacause the energies required to create them (if they exist) have not yet been reached. Furthermore, if black holes were created in cosmic ray collisions in the upper atmosphere, they'd have escaped the Earth's gravitational field immediately afterward (and would be sent deep into space).

[Lionel Mandrake]

104. Tiny black holes are not a problem.

Cosmic rays more energetic than the LHC beam have been bombarding not only the Earth's upper atmosphere, but also solid surfaces (e.g., that of the Moon) for gigayears, with no dire consequences.

The black holes, if any, are harmless. If they weren't, the Moon would have disappeared long ago.

[Lochloosa]

58. Stand next to one and tell me that again.

:evilgrin:

[pokercat999]

122. About the same odds as winning the "Mega Millions"

lottery.......but millions of people still try every week.

And guess what, every few weeks someone wins!

[tridim]

8. I still think all this FUD is sponsored by groups with an agenda..

An agenda that fears the discovery of more elemental building blocks of matter.

So, fuck off fundy "scientists".

[Deja Q]

97. Nature itself creates far stronger forces... and if shit were to happen,

it'd be because some asswipe managed to hack into the linux farm, breach the core servers, and really fuck things up.

Google being a friend, the project was put on hold for a while because somebody broke in. Into a LINUX system. Not Windows. LINUX. (all the fanbois and other dweezydweebles who think anything not windows is impenetrable is a fool and I was saying that long before it became the latest fad to do.)

[hunter]

103. God's core servers run Linux?

Wow. What flavor?

My guess is Debian.

[Sabriel]

9. That's OK... Kirk will deal with it.

As long as the transporter doesn't fizzle out at the last second.

[Bake]

117. Dammit, Scotty, beam me up NOW!

:rofl:

Bake

[balantz]

10. This summer? Should we ramp up on the sex and drugs now? n/t

[Shiver]

12. Sounds like as good a reason as any...

:party:

[pasto76]

11. oh my god

they suggest thats why we havent heard from any ET civilization, because they built their OWN LHC and destroyed themselves. fucking idiots.

[4lbs]

17. Remember the movie "Contact" ? That's what one guy in the meeting thought those designs the Vegans

sent were. We build it and blow ourselves up.

[Ikonoklast]

34. I thought they were afraid that the if the plans transmitted by the Vegans

were to be built, we would all turn into carrots?

[KnaveRupe]

36. Hence, the book: "To Serve Carrots".

It's a COOKBOOK!!!

[pokercat999]

123. James Woods playing the part of the Security Advisor?....nt

[Dr.Phool]

13. I'll be really, really pissed if they destroy the earth.

That machine sounds worse than the Republican Party.

[lumberjack_jeff]

42. You'll get over it really fast. n/t

[onehandle]

14. Good. The economy is only going to get worse and people are going to get crazier.

Let it end in a cosmic poof.

[russian33]

15. was i the only one...

...who mis-read the name of the collider?

[underpants]

28. LOL

What a way to go :scared: :hide:

I didn't see that initially, too funny

[juno jones]

101. I think I was on daily kos when I read the diary

of someone who had also misread the name of the LHC

Once you read 'Large Hardon Collider' it never goes away. You might as well as put toothpaste back in a tube. Sorry. :evilgrin:

edit to add: At least we will be giggling like loons when the damn thing sucks the planet into a black hole.

[TankLV]

131. AND it's talking about a "black hole"...

of course, not that there'd be anything WRONG with that...

[4lbs]

16. And some thought that exploding the first atomic bomb would set off an uncontrollable chain reaction

of flame and radiation that would engulf the entire world.

Didn't happen.

[paparush]

18. Nah...At least not until 2012....mwahahahahahaaha!

[tom_paine]

19. Reminds me of how Tranlfamadore destroys the universe...

A Tralfamadorian Trest Pilot was experimenting with new fuels. He pushes a button, and the universe is gone.

IF this is true, and occurs, which I am almost certain it will NOT, then it is quite possible that the entire galaxy will cheer at our demise, us very danegrous, stupid, mean monkeys who would have caused them no end of pain and suffering if somehow we managae to survive and get off this planet.

[MellowDem]

88. The galaxy is alive???

And does it really care whether their is pain or suffering? Isn't that all quite natural? There is no good and evil in nature. We are not dangerous, we just are, ya know what I mean? Not to interrupt your depressing tirade or anything... ;)

[tom_paine]

150. I was thinking of the galazy's intelligent lifeform populace, which almost certainly

is more than just us monkey-people.

Are you going to pretend that what I said makes me a UFO-believer or a Roswell believer or any ofthat other shit? Bet it crossed your mind. Why? Becuase it's easy. But I am premptively taking that nonsense away from you.

I don't buy UFO stories and I don't buy Roswell or any of that other stuff.

Rather I believe what Carl Sagan believed, that statistics and the huge size and age of the galaxy strongly suggest that there is other intelligent life out there, even if it is far away. Though science has not given any indication or evidence that this is so.

So, THAT'S what I meant.

But, now that you mention it, I suppose it's not out of the question that the galaxy is alive in some larger sense that we can't detect. In that unlikely case, then maybe not just the intelligent population of the galxy will cheer, but the galaxy itself.

Possible. Not probable, but possible.

Now watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyexBlqFo-U

If you think it is grotesque and crazy, then we have nothing more to say. If you think it is grotesque and crazy, then perhaps you might want to Google the term "self-awareness" and then figure out how to get some.

Please ignore these comments if they do not apply to you and accept my apologies. But if they DO apply to you, then I stand by my words, but still apologize for being so blunt and frank about it (I have run out of patience these last 8 years, that's for sure).

[MellowDem]

153. Sorry if you were offended...

I was just trying to lighten the mood. I think it's quite possible that there is other "intelligent" life forms out there. I personally don't believe that the galaxy has some moral code that we have violated is all. Any judgement that is passed on us is defined by us. I believe you may be projecting your values onto what may be something bigger than us all. Nothing wrong with that. But I think that is too simplistic of a way to look at it myself.

But as far as how I view humanity, I think we bring far more good than evil to the table, which is pretty impressive for the only self-aware, dominant species on the Earth. ;-)

[tom_paine]

155. No hard feelings, as we both apologized.

I was being somewhat flip, as well, in my initial comments. You are 100% about anthropomorphicizing anything.

It IS too simplistic a way of looking at things, and it's not my way. I was making a Vonnegut-esque "black humor" joke, and not dong a very good job of it, either.

So it sounds like I was a bit humor-impaired (please use the :sarcasm: smiley for us thick-heads) in this case.

No problem. No harm, no foul, no hard feelings.

:hi:

See you 'round the boards...and don't forget that :sarcasm: smiley, please, to help avoid future miscommunications like this in the future. I'm far from the only humor-impaired DUer here. FAR from the only one.

[winter999]

20. Anyone read Forever Peace?

Same scenario, just more Sci-Fi. Short of it is that scientists build a massive collider out near Jupiter - lots of room, lots of speed, lots of energy. The stated goal was to recreate the universe a fraction of a second after the Big Bang. The catch was that it would, in turn, create a new Big Bang and destroy the Universe (leading to a hypothesis that ALL Big Bangs were created by advanced civilizations with a death-wish).

The whole operation was run by Far Right Fundies that believed that God was going to end the Earth and these guys were just fulfilling God's will. Scientists, Officials, Military and Government heads. Anyone with questions were either eliminated or discredited. I think the book was written 20-plus years ago.

Very Creepy.

[14thColony]

105. Another book with the same theme

is "Thrice Upon a Time" by James P. Hogan. A prototype fusion reactor in the UK begins creating undetected micro black holes during its initial test trials, but swarms of them. They manage to coalesce into a stable black hole at the Earth's core. The physicists involved very quickly conclude that we might as well all have one hell of a final party, 'cause there's nothing that can be done.

Please note book was written by a Cambridge trained physicist author, but before the concept of Hawking Radiation and the idea of black hole evaporation were developed.

And no, I don't think the LHC will be a doomsday machine. Scientist tend to be a very cautious bunch, and despite Fox News' attempts to disparage the whole field, I can't help but notice that despite atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs and nuclear fission plants, they've yet to destroy the world even once.

[sofa king]

127. I don't remember that part in the book.

I do, however, remember the punchline of the story: humankind is saved from itself by force-feeding it a little bit of empathy and compassion.

It's a shame that idea remains in the realm of science fiction.

[Kittycat]

21. At least we won't have to worry about the economy any more.

[jus_the_facts]

22. Don't Panic...and Don't Forget Your Towel...

:nuke:

[truebrit71]

23. Hmmm a headline that says "Scientist" on Fuxnews...fear-mongering perhaps?

..and if it happens, it happens...

[Posteritatis]

121. Same 'news' service that openly speculated on a scientist creating a zombie army? yep (nt)

[spoony]

151. They're still working on blaming Obama for it

:)

[LeftHander]

24. If a blackhole was created we could put garbage in it for a millenium...

It would probably take a few million years before it became strong enough to start eating the earth.

Or it would in a flash eat the earth the sun and the solar system....

either way think of what we would learn....for the millions of years or milliseconds that follow.

Astounding.

[SurfingScientist]

25. Check out who reported it...

... in the link to the story. The same fair and balanced guys who make a buck or two out of inflating everything to catastrophic proportions. :sarcasm:

For a somewhat more balanced view, the online versions of popular science magazines have better articles that put things into perspective. See e.g. newscientist.com .

The science guys always give an estimated remaining uncertainty for a doomsday scenario. This is given as "one in a (insert your favorite obscenely large number - and yes, MUCH more obscene than a major bank's quarterly loss)".
It's the science guys' painstakingly accurate way of saying "The Doomsday won't happen!". We cannot imagine such numbers and cannot grasp how unlikely it is that the LHC will start the doomsday, and end up hearing "it might quite plausibly happen", a misconcept that the fear-and-sensation M$M happily exploit. The odds of a huge asteroid impact are many, many times larger - as are the odds of catastrophic climate change.

The odds of LHC finding fundamental physics that might one day help us solve all of our energy, climate, and clean water problems, AND to avoid a catastrophic asteroid hit if we ever need to, are actually very non-zero. And very much worth turning that thing on.

[underpants]

27. Welcome to DU

:hi:

Yes Fox sticks in a generic "you can't believe science" editorial in the story too

[SurfingScientist]

33. Thank you!

I have been lurking for over a year and finally decided to become active. Thanks for the welcome!

[Ikonoklast]

40. And just how do we know you aren't part of the conpiracy?

Hmmmmmm?

Using facts and all.


:P

[ElboRuum]

52. If you can't trust a surfing scientist...

...who can you trust? That you Garrett Lisi?

[Piewhacket]

66. Lisi practices 'balance'. Therefore it probably isn't him.

But he would post here, if he truly saw 'balance' in the big picture.

Faux... bat-shit banana-crackers nutcase whack-out unbalanced.
DU..... intelligent humorous thoughtful determined unbalanced.
Result. balance.

[SurfingScientist]

82. Unfortunately not...

... Garrett Lisi is WAY smarter and WAY cooler than I am, and his life is WAY more balanced than mine ;) .

I am an astrophysicist, so not an expert on LHC and its risks; what I wrote here is parrotted from science blogs and articles that are written at a level that I can understand, by people who know about LHC and its risk analysis at a better level.

And yes, I do surf and ski whenever I get around to doing it. By the way, surfing in New England requires a REALLY thick wetsuit most of the year.

Oh, and I am a foreigner - this means you should NEVER trust me :) I grew up in Germany and have been living in the US for five and a half years. Am I still welcome...?

[NYC_SKP]

38. How long do you think the odds are against catastrophic climate change?

(From your third to last sentence.)

I suppose it depends on one's definition of "catastrophic".

:shrug:

Here's another thread about climate change in LBN: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3708296

[SurfingScientist]

47. You are right, we are very likely already on the way...

... to major climate change and I meant my sentence with a mild dose of :sarcasm: . My point was that we have a very real threat to our planet that is not exactly convenient for certain interest groups, while their phony media outlets distract the public with unrealistic scifi stories.

[brentspeak]

69. You're not this guy, are you?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_lisi

[SurfingScientist]

83. Sadly not...

... see #82 above. Would be great if Lisi was around here.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

78. Check out who's defending it...

:eyes:

[ismnotwasm]

26. Sounds like something out of the David Brin

Uplift series

[Dudley_DUright]

81. or more likely his book titled "Earth"

where the main character manages to create and then "drop" a mini black hole inside the earth. David Brin writes some good Sci-Fi.

[Tesha]

87. Actually, you were probably thinking of David Brin's "Earth". (NT)

[deepplaya]

29. How many intellegent civilizations have tried this before?

Just look up and count the number of Black holes in the sky........

[creeksneakers2]

90. One talk show host quipped

We should put a big sign on the Moon that says, "If there is no planet here - Don't build the super collider."

[snooper2]

109. If the collider destroys Earth- the moon is going with it :)

nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

129. How would that work?

If the earth collapsed into a black hole, the moon's orbit would remain unchanged.

[LanternWaste]

30. Great... Y2K, Elections suspended due to martial law and now this...

Great... Y2K, elections to be suspended due to martial law, and now this brand new uber-conspiracy to bait suckers into believing a brand new end-of-the-world scenario so they can better validate their reading of hack-authored, bad sci-fi novellas... :eyes:

[alittlelark]

31. Live Webcam link.... it's pretty interesting

http://www.cyriak.co.uk/lhc/lhc-webcams.html

[atomic-fly]

46. oh shit!

they just created one, how long till it eats the east coast!

[KnaveRupe]

32. I thought posts in LBN had to come from an actual NEWS source? n/t

[gmoles]

35. I was just laughing about this article...

First, Foxnews does this thing were they make headlines that don't match their stories (knowing most of their readers are too dumb to read the whole thing). The scientists in the article say "instead of being around for a nanosecond, the minature black holes might be around for 1 sec, but they are NOT threatening to the world" Second, foxnews is so pro-doomsday anti-scientist, its hilarious. This is a golden nugget of brilliant journalism, and I quote directly: "FoxNews.com can think of a few other things that didn't seem possible once — the theory of continental drift, the fact that rocks fall from the sky, the notion that the Earth revolves around the sun, the idea that scientists could be horribly wrong."

[underpants]

43. You the anonimous floating news entity editorializing was noticeable

I couldn't include it in 4 paragraphs

I'd say Welcome to DU but I see that you have been here for a while
:hi:

[SurfingScientist]

44. Thanks gmoles! Things that did not seem possible (on Faux) once? Such as...

... BO becoming president :D ?

[jmondine]

37. If it does destroy the planet, log an "A" bug and contact a programmer

Simple solution

[Javaman]

39. more blathering by the faux snooze team. all the sensational unsubstantiated news you can tolerate.

:boring:

[Towlie]

45. Keep your eyes on InTrade!

http://www.intrade.com/

If they offer "Hadron Collider to NOT destroy the Earth" at a price anywhere below 100, buy it! You can't lose. :rofl:

[ElboRuum]

48. Still Not Worried.

Scientists have also said that at the energies of the impacts that the LHC will be probing are on the order of cosmic rays striking the upper atmosphere. So if that's the case, these black holes should be appearing around our planet all the time, with no ill effects. Either that, or there won't be any black holes because they won't be generated at these energies.

Nevertheless, I know you guys are theoretical particle physicists, but if you're too damn lazy to check your math, you should step away from the machine. Like right effing now.

[man4allcats]

49. Ha! Well if things actually DO go south,

I hope I'll have at least enough time for one brief final laugh at humanity's remarkable intellectual hubris before I get shredded into my component quarks as I slip into the event horizon. :hi:

[knitter4democracy]

50. It hasn't happened at any of the other supercolliders.

It's not like that experiment hasn't been attempted at the MSU cyclotron lab or Fermi or MIT. This is just more Faux News fearmongering crap.

[ElboRuum]

55. +1 for the Faux News source pointout...

-1 for the science. No collider built is exploring energies this high.

[knitter4democracy]

67. Well, the MSU cyclotron gets protestors all the time worried about it.

My dad retired from there, and I well remember driving past protestors as a kid who were worried that it would bring about the end of the world.

[CreekDog]

51. Does this mean I don't have to worry about my cholesterol levels?

:D

[NoGOPZone]

61. Evidently, foxnews.com is looking forward to the end of the world

so they can blame it on the Obama Administration.

[TankLV]

132. Well - in all the MOVIES when a black guy was President, the earth WAS always DOOMED!!!

Now I suppose you're gonna tell me that those were just - movies...

maybe Fox is onto something...!!!

[Titonwan]

62. GREAT!... I KNEW Republican's helped design this shit!

As usual, it was a "bi-fuckin-partisan effort and we all know how compromising works! Too bad we couldn't get Mitch McConnell, Rush Limburger and Bill Kristol near that thing when they light it up.
Seriously, one second doesn't seem like a long time and it MAY only suck up like the ENTIRE Swiss Alps, but who knows what kind of tectonic chain reaction would occur next! If it were, to say, uncork one of the few super volcanoes (that we know about), kiss your smelly ass goodbye. The dormant super volcano in Yellowstone State Park IS Yellowstone State Park!!! We're talking GI-NORMOUS! (to get all technical :) In carpentry, I learned to "measure twice and cut once".... DITTO! This could be worse than Dick Cheney...

[sdfernando]

63. So long.....

and thanks for all the fish!!

[tclambert]

64. Ding, ding, ding. My baloney detector went off.

Here's how you know this doomsday scenario is BS. Cosmic rays hit the Earth all the time. Cosmic rays are highly energetic particles zooming through the cosmos. They strike the Earth with as much, and often more, energy than we can produce in any supercollider. All the stuff they are doing in the Large Hadron Collider happens in nature and hasn't destroyed the planet. The only difference is that in the LHC, they have spy cameras and teensy tiny rulers so they can measure exactly what happens.

If you want to worry about real stuff, look up the numbers on job losses.

[struggle4progress]

99. Just looked at that: there appears to be enough data collected to understand

the proton cosmic ray energy spectrum up to at least 20 TeV (compared to the 14 Tev for the hadron collider, and of course the data has only been collected for a few decades

Given that Earth is about 3 billion years old, my first guess would be that you're right and there's really not much to worry about

[derby378]

65. If you "starve" the black hole for a second, it'll evaporate anyway

The folks at the LHC just need to make sure they've got their ducks in a row, that's all.

[TankLV]

133. Maybe they can install one of those stomach ties so it won't eat so much...

I see their commercials every nite - LATE at nite when I can't sleep...

[Chulanowa]

68. I look at it this way

In the infinitesimal chance that this thing DOES destroy the earth... I won't care. Nothing I can do about it, and if I get sucked into a cosmic mass-compactor in under a millisecond, I don't think I'd even notice.

[TankLV]

134. I got sucked into a big black hole once...

but enough about my earlier dating episodes...

[Hugin]

72. "University of Bologna"

:rofl:

[TankLV]

135. funny how people miss that part...

these things just write themselves, don't they...

and to think we PAY people to try to come up with stuff like this...

[Zhade]

146. My university has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R...

NT!

[us_citizen]

73. frankly, I dont know why they're messing with this stuff

working in tech, my first rule was 'never go over your head'

these people have no clue what the side effects are, they really have no idea what they are doing, or at least have not been able to communicate it in any meaningfull way

[Nevernose]

91. Your last point is closest to the truth of the matter

"at least have not been able to communicate it in any meaningful way"

It might be more accurate to say that it hasn't been reported in a meaningful way. I've read 20 articles in simple layman's terms on the LHC in the last few months, but few of them mainstream. The ones that were mainstream were easily eclipsed by the "Evil Swiss Geniuses Bent on Activating Doomsday Machine" articles.

[TZ]

108. and you know this how?

You KNOW that the scientists don't know what they are doing based on FAUX and other MSM? Why is it we don't trust the MSM for political news but all too willing to believe the shit about science they put out?

[TankLV]

137. first it was about "black holes" and now you're taking about going in "over your head"...

how else would you go in...if it's not "head first"?!

[Eryemil]

144. Just because you do not understand the science behind it...

...does not mean other people do not have a better understanding.

One of the key aspects of our future technological progress is the completion (or scrapping) of the standard model. For this, we need to find the Higgs Boson.

[slackmaster]

75. Gee, I wish we had one of those Doomsday Machines

[lonestarnot]

77. Any chance we can get Dick and bush to pull the switch for a speaking fee?

[lovuian]

84. This squares the heck out of me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd7_GdfhjyQ

[jzodda]

85. Why am I not surprised this is on Faux News?

The Anti-Science, anti-reason, anti-global warming network?

[jimlup]

89. Don't take it too seriously. Note the source...

FAUX news... sure some crackpots did a calculation. Let's not be impressed.

If this is a real problem, there are plenty of physicists who can advise...

[Poll_Blind]

92. The Tralfamadorian pilot has and always will push the button.

  The moment is structured that way. And so it goes.

  Enjoy these moments more. Isn't there someone within arm's reach that you can hug? :)

PB

[Endangered Specie]

93. Reminds me of an old Star Trek episode

[underpants]

100. Giant space spliff?

:smoke:

[TankLV]

138. ok - now that's just DIRTY...

black holes...hardon collisions...university of balony...

[donco]

95. Damn,something else

to worry about.:eyes:

[Peace Patriot]

96. I think the Bigger Brains who've tried this a number of times (squared) are watching

with amusement from VERY FAR AWAY. And the only thing they like about us is Faux News. They get into laughing fits about it that have caused a couple of supernovas, like, oops, and are trying to keep straight faces now, but it's hard. The thing we don't understand is that Faux News was never intended to be anything but funny. And if it wasn't for Faux News, these VERY FAR AWAY people, who are EXPERIENCED BLACK HOLE CREATORS, would have let us evaporate ourselves long ago, and have reprogrammed EVERYTHING a couple of times so that that won't happen. So just think of it this way: The weirdest crapola 'news' with the silliest bobbleheads and dickheads on God's Green Earth presenting total bullshit AS IF it were serious is the most admired characteristic of the human race, and is keeping us from just, you know, pffting the teensy tip of the stringy thingy that vibrates this particular parallel universe into being, with all of us in it. And be grateful.

[The abyss]

98. Oh for Hell’s sake!

Fire the damn thing off! I’m tired of waiting for the answer.

Personally, I have some sort of undefined hope that it symbolizes a transition into a new age.

Symbols are often powerful things.

[TZ]

107. Fox news.

why the FUCK would anyone believe a word these morons have to say about science. I wonder how misquoted and twisted these scientists have been.
:banghead:

[WoodrowFan]

110. it's an idiot detector

It's really an idiot detector. if you're worried it'll destroy the earth, BINGO! You're an idiot.

[WoodrowFan]

125. I apologize

I apologize. my response was harsh and unfairly judgemental. My apologies for anybody offended.

[14thColony]

112. Although I don't for one second believe the hype

the this thing will destroy the world, I still have this vision of an alien exploration vessel doing a survey of our solar system in 5,000 years, and noting the odd presence of a small black hole in orbit around this system's star between the second and third planets...

[TankLV]

139. opps - I thought you were talking about bush* or cheeney again...

you did say "small asshole in orbit around this system's star between the second and third planets..."

[The Stranger]

115. If it's at least a possibility, I'm in favor of it.

We fucked it all up, so let someone or something else have their turn.

Start all over.

[The Stranger]

116. If it's at least a possibility, I'm in favor of it.

We fucked it all up, so let someone or something else have their turn.

Start all over.

[TankLV]

140. of course, you said that in a double post...

oh - my irony meter is about to break...

[The Stranger]

142. Something about eternal recurrence . . .

[Bake]

118. Alright! Now I don't have to quit smoking!

:smoke:

Bake

[AyanEva]

119. Oh good lord

They won't make a black hole that eats the Earth and if they do, well... *shrugs* We won't care anymore in very short order, I'd imagine. There was a movie like this on the Sci-Fi channel. I forget how they "plugged" the black hole or whatever it was they did. It was halfway decent, as far as Sci-Fi Channel original movies go.

I thought they were going to turn it back on this Spring?

[WoodrowFan]

126. It was K9

On "The Sarah Jane Smith Aventures" it was K9 that plugged it I think..

[AyanEva]

147. LMAO!

Good one!

But he did pop back out for a bit to sync up with Mr. Smith and help the Doctor, so the black hole's been unplugged. Looks like we'll all get swallowed up anyway. :(

[Posteritatis]

120. Yay, now all the "I learned about physics from Google and think..." idiots'll be back again (nt)

[Realityhack]

124. LOL FOX 'Science'

From later in the article:

"FoxNews.com can think of a few other things that didn't seem possible once — the theory of continental drift, the fact that rocks fall from the sky, the notion that the Earth revolves around the sun, the idea that scientists could be horribly wrong.

We're also wondering how often the LHC might create individual black holes, since longer-lived ones have a greater chance of merging with each other, and, um, well, see ya.

If the worst comes to pass, and there's now a slightly greater chance that it might, at least it might explain why we've never heard from extraterrestrial civilizations: Maybe they built Large Hadron Colliders of their own."

[gorbal]

136. Ummm it's not worth it, really

Why can't they put their minds to use on a cure for cancer instead.

[Codeine]

141. Because they're physicists, probably.

It would be like asking you to put your mind to work designing aircraft engines or whatever. Outside your area of expertise.

And I'm afraid you don't know enough about the subject to say whether it's worth it or not at all.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

148. Cure cancer would cause a tear in the 5th dimension. We can't take that risk.

We don't really know what would happen if we cured cancer, it's never happened before, so we shouldn't really try.

[superconnected]

143. I really wish they wouldn't FUCK with this crap when they don't know what they're doing.

Destroying the world as an accidental bi-product just ranges up there with don't fucking try it even to learn. Experiment with other things that won't take everything out if you fuck up, please.

[annabanana]

145. FOX 's best scientific minds on display. . . . . n/t

[MilesColtrane]

154. So, we get to look forward to a big light in the sky, time skipping, smoke monsters...

...polar bears in the tropics, etc.?

Where's the Dharma Initiative when you need them?