Can the LHC Kill us all?

Question

will the LHC make a black hole that can kill us all

Answer 1

NO.

and

no.

The LHC has no intention of crossing the ocean and murdering anyone.

An energy black hole (as opposed to a matter black hole) evaporates immediately.  The universe is filled with cosmic rays that have far more energy than what we can get with the LHC.  They collide with all sorts of things, including other very energetic cosmic rays and with molecules in our atmosphere (that is how we discovered muons and pions: they are produced by collisions of very high energy particles).

This means that IF the LHC can produce energy black holes, then the Universe has been producing them all over the place, for billions of years.

Are you dead yet?  That is probably because energy black holes can't kill.  They don't stick around long enough.

Answer 2

HAHAHAHAHA!

No.

Answer 3

Well, probably not. And as far as anyone can tell, and some very smart people have discussed this, the chance of the LHC causing harm through the creation of Black Holes or strangelets is so small as to be negligible.

However, the concerns that this experiment might go awry are real, however small we may calculate them to be. So it is interesting that we are going forward with an experimental device that could conceivably destroy the Earth, especially since there are no practical reasons to pursue this research? I think a case can be made that when destruction of the Earth is a possibility, maybe we should wait until we can build this sort of thing in orbit or on the Moon.

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

Reminds me of a scene in Lexx where an alien casually remarks that civilizations like Earth's usually self destruct. When asked why, he says "Oh...war, ecological collapse. Mostly though they are compressed to the size of a pea by scientists trying to determine the mass of the Higgs-Boson particle."

On the plus side if something goes wrong with the LHC and destroys Earth, in all likelihood we all all be dead before we even realize there is a problem. Sleep tight. :)

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

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

Answer 4

I wouldn't care much if that happened

Answer 5

OH COME ON !!!

It just like whenever we take a few steps ahead in science, people think it means we are a few steps closer to death. No, the LHC is not going to kill us.

The smartest scientists are all involved in the project. Come on, give them the credibility they deserve.

the only black hole that might be created is a micro black hole, and the possibility of that happening is extremely minute. Even if it does happen, the micro black hole will disintegrate very quickly( a fraction of a second) thereby causing no damage.

So, honestly pay no heed to the idiots that say were going to die because of the LHC.

Answer 6

Physicists are hoping that black holes are generated by the LHC, but they would be microscopic in size with less mass than a proton and totally evaporate in mere nano-seconds.

Answer 7

No. The LHC won't make 1 black hole... it will probably make many. But these are microscopic black holes. They very low masses. Their masses are so low, that due to Hawking radiation, they will evaporate in less than a second. The LHC will make black holes that have *maybe* the mass of a couple hundred protons. It would take a particle accelerator larger than the solar system to make a black hole with anything above the mass of a couple kilograms... and even then, my dog has more of a gravitational pull than those. Black holes don't automatically suck everything in. Their gravitational pull is dependent on their mass... the more mass, the more gravity. Considering this, we would need a black hole with a mass much larger than the sun's to suck us in, and it would take more energy than the entire galaxy has to make one with a mass even noticeable. In other words, you'll be fine. You would have a better chance of getting hit by an asteroid and lightening on top of Mt. Whitney while holding 5 winning lottery tickets while munching on cookies with Hannah Montana.

EDIT: "united" is wrong. There are NO dangers with the LHC, unless you find yourself trapped inside it when they're turning it on.... then you have some problems. Other than that, there are no possible ways anything could go wrong... even if the thing exploded, the Earth wouldn't end... granted, the people around the area may not be so thrilled, but is your house by the LHC?

Answer 8

No, I don't think so, I heard that the LHC will only create black holes smaller than a subatomic particle, and the black hole should implode right after creation.