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

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

www.foxnews.com

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.

(visit the link for the full news article)


[edit: title to same as source]
Headline: Please use the original story headline from your source.

[edit on 27-1-2009 by 12m8keall2c]

Well...yeah. There you go. If you're into doom and gloom, this story is for you. The first time I heard about this, I said the same thing they are saying now. They now say that the small black holes could live for more than a second as they previously thought, but they don't know how much longer. Hopefully not long enough to destroy the earth or cause some kind of havoc. Scientists are really smart, but sometimes I wonder if they lack common sense.

Thoughts? Comments?

www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 27/1/09 by wisefoolishness]

So, the "doomsayers" were right all along. Silly "Scientists".
Wasn't it obvious for them from the beginning that it would be dangerous? What is the point with the experiment anyway?

WEll this is turning out to be a he says this his math is that she said something else.

My personal thinking on the matter is that these reactions happen in space all the time or in stars but we dont see blackholes everywhere we look (just in the middle of galaxys). The only difference here is that we will have measuring devices and tools to observe the reaction.

Does my thinking make sense? I mean its logical to think that these tiny particles collide at near light speed in stars and other places in space, on a regular basis right?

There is still much more scientists who support the collider idea and claim that it is safe. I just hope that it is safe indeed and the results will be something positive, not just another super weapon.
However - if we succeed to wipe ourself out with help of black hole whose creation we funded and toiled for - we deserve galactic Darwin's award. No doubt.

reply to post by Desolate Cancer


Yeah, it makes sense, but we don't know for sure. You would think that they would wait, and test theories like these to see if it's safe, rather than just go ahead and see what happens in what could be a non-safe situation.



And just to add: the title I posted for the thread was the title that Fox had linked to the article. The name of the article inside of the link was different, but it's fine.

Yea, but they were saying the same thing during the Manhattan Project. Some scientists believed it was possible that the fission reaction they were about to trigger would create a black hole that could destroy the earth.

The engineers and scientists designing and testing the first atomic-bombs thought that igniting the entirety of the earth's atmosphere was a distinct possibility of lighting off a nuclear weapon - but they did it anyway

The LHC is only the newest collider on the market, there are dozens in operation right now around the globe the only difference being that the LHC will eventually (hopefully) reach higher energy collisions.

These reactions do take place all the time and a black hole will not tear the universe in two. There are several purposes to the experiment, the biggest hope being that the Higgs Boson or 'GOD' particle is found.

This particle is predicted to give all matter its mass, but has never been witnessed. It will further enhance our understanding of physics and hopefully lead to bigger and better things.

Originally posted by jtma508
Yea, but they were saying the same thing during the Manhattan Project. Some scientists believed it was possible that the fission reaction they were about to trigger would create a black hole that could destroy the earth.

That's a bad argument.

You're essentially saying, that yes, the world didn't end during the Manhattan Project...however, what you're failing to realize is that we created the means to end the world with the Manhattan Project.

This particle collider might not end the world, but what if it creates the means to end the world?

Well, I say fire it up and if it does create an Earth eating black hole, lets all ride that great cosmic wave into the blackened depths that is the singularity. I wonder how long it would take to eat the Earth if one of these hypothetical microspopic blackholes didn't evaporate and began devouring the Earth. Minutes, days, weeks, decades? Will there be time to balance my bank book? Will there be enough time to develop a extened space flight program and launch people into deep space? Oh, so many questions.

Umm, can I ask something?

What in the hell gives any scientist the right to play with the very existence of earth, and some 6 billion lives? If there is any doubt WHATSOEVER that the earth can be destroyed due to this, there is no way, NO WAY this should ever be allowed to happen. PERIOD. It's like wtf.

And there clearly is doubt. If they insist on proceeding with the big test, they ought to be drawn and quartered if need be to STOP this insanity. Some things YOU JUST DON'T PLAY WITH, no matter how bad their stinking curiosity is.

[edit on Tue Jan 27th 2009 by TrueAmerican]

Ungh....
Did you people even glance at the source?

IT'S FOX!



Wake me back up when someone credible sources the story.
At least an outlet that doesn't aspire to become a tabloid.

[edit on 27-1-2009 by johnsky]

reply to post by TrueAmerican


I agree with you completely, I have thought the same thing.
What gives them the right to play God?
They have no right, they will not be learning anything miraculous.
They have no right to play with every person's life on this planet, as they are! They do not know what will happen.

I thought it was outrageous that people even supported this experiment.

It is not worth any scientific findings that may come out of it - in putting the Earth at jeopardy.

We got nothing to loose, in fact, when this experiment goes wrong you won't even get to notice. So bring it on, I would press the red button. If it goes right, and we get important data out of this experiment, science will be far more richer than before, just for our advantage. So don't hesitate, press the button too!

From the article:

"We conclude that ... the growth of black holes to catastrophic size does not seem possible. Nonetheless, it remains true that the expected decay times are much longer (and possibly >> 1 second) than is typically predicted by other models," the three state in a brief paper posted at the scientific discussion Web site ArXiv.org.

source

It makes so much more sense to read the whole article and what was actually said than to rely on a sensationalist headline designed to sell more copy or attract more revenue clicks.

A poll of students asking what discoveries they think will be made when the LHC finally gets to operating, is broken down in this pie chart.



Clearly the earth getting sucked into a singularity would fall into the "unexpected" or "other" category.

I hope they have spare parts on hand for the Atlas.

Originally posted by Double Eights

Originally posted by jtma508
Yea, but they were saying the same thing during the Manhattan Project. Some scientists believed it was possible that the fission reaction they were about to trigger would create a black hole that could destroy the earth.

That's a bad argument.

You're essentially saying, that yes, the world didn't end during the Manhattan Project...however, what you're failing to realize is that we created the means to end the world with the Manhattan Project.

This particle collider might not end the world, but what if it creates the means to end the world?

I understand what you're saying but it's not MY argument that is bad. The point is, this is not the first time that scientists, when facing a relatively new domain, pull out the black hole fear. It didn't happen with the Manhattan Project as feared. The fact that we created an atomic weapon at that time has nothing at all to do with the subject of this thread: the accidental creation of a cataclysmic balck hole.

Originally posted by questioningall

What gives them the right to play God?
They have no right, they will not be learning anything miraculous.

Who's playing god?

They don't have the power to play god... and I mean that in a physical sense.

It would take the energy of an entire sun and more to create such a black hole.

They're studying the re-created effects of matter in conditions that supposedly would exist AFTER the separation between matter and anti-matter... they're not creating the actual big bang itself.



Are you insulting god by claiming his work can be done with sheets of metal, copper wire, sand and some current?



Nobody is playing god here.

Now, I have a question for you.

Who do you think you are to assume gods work is such a trivial and pathetic feat that it may be easily accomplished by man?





[edit on 27-1-2009 by johnsky]

thats what I think. If it all ends, it will happen so quick nobody will notice. But I do find it humorous that the folks that were calling people stupid for questioning the scientists are so very quiet now.