Who thinks we're all going to die in 9 days?

Question

when the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) is activated.

for those of you who don't know what the Large Hadron Collider is... read this:

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

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08...

those who do know, read this:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/fea...

what do you guys think? are we on the brink of the most important scientific experiment/discovery of all time? or are we most likely going to kill ourselves in 9 days :/

Answer 1

If this instrument was in the USA the question would not arise.  But it's 'foreign' so it's dangerous.  

The chances the LHC can create black holes are slight.  If they are created, which is terribly unlikely, they will be very tiny.  The life of a black hole depends on the cube of it's mass.  Therefore they will have a lifetime of nanoseconds. They will evaporate before they can even begin to swallow an atom.  

The Earth's atmosphere is fairly frequently struck by cosmic ray particles with higher energies than the LHC can provide.  We are still here.    

Answer 2

You need to watch these:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_qu...

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_qu...

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_qu...

Answer 3

Lighten up!  Some of the best times I ever had, my fondest memories, were with a black hole, despite the "physical damage"..  

Answer 4

Technically, we have about 7 weeks :-)

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

"Sept 10 is the first attempt to circulate a beam through the entire LHC"

"The first high-energy collisions are planned to take place after the LHC is officially unveiled, on 21 October 2008"

Answer 5

Probably more fake terrorist attacks. Tell everbody you know and don't know to stay home that day.

9/11 should have been a holiday anyways.

Answer 6

I certainly don't plan to die in 9 days.  We should not notice anything other than news reports of what they have accomplished after the LHC starts up.

"Despite Rumors, Black Hole Factory Will Not Destroy Earth

A number of models of the universe suggest extra dimensions of reality exist that are each folded up into sizes ranging from as tiny as a proton, or roughly a millionth of a billionth of a meter, to as big as a fraction of a millimeter. At distances comparable to the size of these extra dimensions, gravity becomes far stronger, these models suggest. If this is true, the collider will cram enough energy together to initiate gravitational collapses that produce black holes.

If any of the models are right, the accelerator should create a black hole anywhere from every second to every day, each roughly possessing 5,000 times the mass of a proton and each a thousandth of a proton in size or smaller, Landsberg said.

Still, any fears that such black holes will consume the Earth are groundless, Landsberg said.

For one thing, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking calculated all black holes should emit radiation, and that tiny black holes should lose more mass than they absorb, evaporating within a billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second, "before they could gobble up any significant amount of matter," Landsberg said."

Answer 7

Particle accelerators have been in use since 1939. They are used to find subatomic particles and how those particles react and interrelate with one another. This leads to insights as to how subatomic particles create baryonic and nonbaryonic matter and gives us information into the workings of the weak force so we can understand Nature.

Particle accelerators are also used to create medicines such as those used in the treatment of cancers.

Particle accelerators are not run by a group of madmen.

ONE of the many projects of the LHC at CERN is to attempt to find the Higgs boson. Four bosons are known to exist. Scientists are searching for the suspected fifth boson. Discovery of the fifth boson will lead to a more accurate understanding of how matter is formed and how the subatomic particles within matter operate.

There is nothing at all to cause fear of these or any other particle accelerator experiments.

Answer 8

To Beck, I think that knowing how the universe was created would be good, if only for those few moments before we get sucked into a black hole.

Seriously though, any black hole produced would be extremely small, and still would have to abide by the laws of physics with regard to mass and gravity. It would not last long and would  pose no threat.

.

Answer 9

I don't think they shouldn't generate it. What's more important our WORLD being sucked in or knowing how the universe was created?  

Thanks labsci I'm happy now...I've heard about LHC, but I havn't researched  anything before I put my answer. It was dumb of me. But, I did learn from my mistake. That's always a possitive. =)

Answer 10

I think humans all ways think we are more power full then what we are. We can kill ourselves all right with waste and such, but the forces needed to generate a real black hole are tremendous. Galaxy size. 100,000 light year in diameter size. Not miles.. Sizes most people can never ever imagine.  A black hole, no matter what size would grow so fast on Earth with the density it would have, we would never know it ever happened. We would just be gone. This thing may blow the c**p out of the area it is in, but no black hole.   I think it will cause more questions then answers, the way most physic theories do. We all thought the atom was the smallest thing, we were wrong. We all thing the big bang is the answer, and now that is debatable. While this is big, it is in Cosmo's scale , Nothing at all.

Answer 11

Those who fear for their lives are those who don't understand physics. Physicists are *hoping* that the LHC does generate black holes! We could gain volumes of new knowledge that could make all our lives better. The black holes that *might* form in the LHC would be about the size of a proton with less mass / gravity than you or I. Not only that, but these submicroscopic black holes would last for mere nanoseconds.

Answer 12

The LHC may very well be used as a pretend "doorway" or  "stargate" for fake Type III 'aliens' to come through and help set up the one world religion and the New World Order:

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