Black hole to be created on earth at LHC . Too risky?

[Fantic SuperT]

OK, the calculated risks (i.e. guesses) of planetary collapse are theoretically low, but I was amazed to discover the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project near Geneva is intending to create black holes right here on earth this year. If it works and they evaporate as Hawking radiation, then Stephen Hawking gets a Nobel prize for correctly predicting a result at the edge of theoretical physics. If they suck the planet into another dimension instead, well Christmas is off.

Is anyone else surprised we proles didn't get a debate about the risk v. reward of this project? OK I know very little about the subject, but my Grandma warned me never to play with matches or black holes. What if every black hole in the universe was created by an extinct civilisation trying this experiment?

The LHC will be turned on next month, the first beams are due for injection June 2008 and the first collisions planned for August. Is that OK with you? No - tough luck!

[Eric Mc]

Hmmm .... the previous post on this same topic must have dropped down the PH Black Hole.

[jmorgan]

Tell you in September.

[_Batty_]

Fantic SuperT said:

OK, the calculated risks (i.e. guesses) of planetary collapse are theoretically low, but I was amazed to discover the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project near Geneva is intending to create black holes right here on earth this year. If it works and they evaporate as Hawking radiation, then Stephen Hawking gets a Nobel prize for correctly predicting a result at the edge of theoretical physics. If they suck the planet into another dimension instead, well Christmas is off.

Is anyone else surprised we proles didn't get a debate about the risk v. reward of this project? OK I know very little about the subject, but my Grandma warned me never to play with matches or black holes. What if every black hole in the universe was created by an extinct civilisation trying this experiment?

The LHC will be turned on next month, the first beams are due for injection June 2008 and the first collisions planned for August. Is that OK with you? No - tough luck!

i honestly doubt they'd go 100% on the first test.
more of a gradual build up.
very interested to see what they discover

[hornetrider]

Run! Run for the hills!























Oh.

[ScuttleRX]

So how do you go about making black holes then...

[Bing o]

Repost created in the P&P - Too Risky?

[kiwisr]

Would we even know about it?

[dougc]

ScuttleRX said:

So how do you go about making black holes then...

Vote in a labour government, they'll quickly knock one up to pour money into.

[deevee]

[Fetchez la vache]

"Particle physics gives me a hadron."






I know it's in the Sean Connery thread, but I like living on the edge...

[Morningside]

Hmmm. Reminds me of the film Contact where the sphere drops through 'the machine'

[Gun]

Well if it does create black holes they will be microscopic and shouldn't be a problem. Can't wait to see what happens, could be the most important scientific experiment in the history of man kinid if all goes to plan.

[jmorgan]

I think the world leaders need to be there just in case.

[Vesuvius 996]

Gun said:

Well if it does create black holes they will be microscopic and shouldn't be a problem. Can't wait to see what happens, could be the most important scientific experiment in the history of man kinid if all goes to plan.

Dude. Small ones hit HARD where black holes are concerned.

[Simpo Two]

Fantic SuperT said:

Is anyone else surprised we proles didn't get a debate about the risk v. reward of this project?

Because then it would be picked up by the press, everybody will panic and it will never happen. Witness 'Frankenstein Foods' and global warming. You simply can't have Joe Public deciding on the course of science - they are not sufficiently informed or intelligent.

[grumbledoak]

Gun said:

shouldn't be a problem.

Oh well, that's ok then. I mean, how hard can it be to get rid of a black hole if it doesn't evaporate?

[Munter]

My brother did his Phd at CERN. And he's not concerned. Then again he's got a 1.25l Purple Fiesta which is perfect for his needs apparently.

[Fantic SuperT]

kiwisr said:

Would we even know about it?

Apologies to all if this is a repost, I might have been working at some point in the past and missed it.

Regarding not knowing about the end of the world, I've read that some outcomes might end the planet in less than a second, but other outcomes involving stragelets and super-stable particles etc. might take more than a year. I can't imagine the general public would know anything about it in either case. Imagine being told you've only got a year before all trace of your existence vanished. How would governments stop fishermen ignoring the seasons and catch sizes?

[130R]

grumbledoak said:

Gun said:

shouldn't be a problem.

Oh well, that's ok then. I mean, how hard can it be to get rid of a black hole if it doesn't evaporate?

They should keep a dustpan and brush nearby just in case