Has the LHC destroyed the world yet?

[TPReal]

Good to have the latest info.

http://hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com/

Have a look at the page source, how neatly they check if the world has ended or not. Only I think it's a bug that they don't detect the actual reason of the end of the world, in case of it happening

[Grorgy]

lol, if it ends, the actual reason wont concern me too much 

[Crush]

I read that a second LHC is existing in Bielefeld - in case something´s going terrible wrong... perhaps they want to destroy a black hole with a second one?

[Carol Haynes]

Actually I thought it would have been kind of neat if the Earth had been destroyed in a proton sized black hole. It would have at least stopped global warming - and just think no more British summers!!! It would also solve the world terror issue and the US christian right in a flash (plus they would all be very happy with the outcome).

The final irony is that Switzerland - the country that avoids conflict at all costs - would be responsible for world demolition.

Now ... where's that 'Dial a Vogon' card I had 

[40hz]

It has. You are now in a parallel alternate universe exactly like the one you were in before they fired up the LHC.

Unfortunately, due to the relativistic nature of this universe there is absolutely no way of showing that to have happened.

Best not to think about it too much. That way madness lies.

[40hz]

The final irony is that Switzerland - the country that avoids conflict at all costs - would be responsible for world demolition.

And even more ironic, would in all likelihood find a way to turn it to their advantage.

(BTW: shouldn't that read "avoids the appearance of conflict"?)

[app103]

Well, since the world hasn't ended yet, I guess I still have time to finish reading Cosm.

[mahesh2k]

LOL...

Think of Simple Logic..
If there is/was chance of such disaster why france & switzerland will allow this experiment to happen in the first place? Dont you think they are the first one to die if such thing happen,isnt it? Why they will risk their life just to find out Big-bang? ...

Ah, thanks to europe, no baptist group yet opposed this experiement in the Name of protest for  "Creation of Anti-Matter"... ...

[TPReal]

If there is/was chance of such disaster why france & switzerland will allow this experiment to happen in the first place? Dont you think they are the first one to die if such thing happen,isnt it? Why they will risk their life just to find out Big-bang? ...

I think that scientists are so curious about the Higgs boson that they don't care too much about disasters and other things. And their official statement is that no disaster is possible, of course, so Switzerland and France can feel reassured.

My guess is that they in fact know that creating a by-product in the form of a black hole is very unlikely but possible. But admitting it would be a bye-bye to the LHC experiments and the Higgs boson, so they just keep it a Polichinelle's secret.

And if the disaster really happens, nobody will complain anyway Not in Solar System.

TPReal.

[mouser]

If the world ends, will we at least have a few minutes to think about how cool it is and watch it end? or will it happen in the blink of an eye and no one gets to appreciate it?

anyone who thinks it would be a terrible shame for the world to end just needs to watch a couple of hours of tv news and you'll be hoping for a black hole to be born. 

[Carol Haynes]

If the world ends, will we at least have a few minutes to think about how cool it is and watch it end? or will it happen in the blink of an eye and no one gets to appreciate it?

If a black hole is created you'd better have the tomato sauce in your hand because you would be turned into spaghetti almost instantly!

[Darwin]

Well, since the world hasn't ended yet, I guess I still have time to finish reading Cosm.

That looks like an interesting read, App! Thanks for the link, I might just spring $0.01 for a used copy  

[TPReal]

One of the more material articles I found:
http://www.livescience.com/environment/060919_black_holes.html

However, such trapped black holes are so tiny, they could pass through a block of iron the distance from the Earth to the Moon and not hit anything. They would each take about 100 hours to gobble up one proton.

Maybe it's true, maybe not. Probably they couldn't say "The chance of a black hole eating up the whole planet is only about 0.5% each day, so please please, let us try."

[40hz]

My guess is that they in fact know that creating a by-product in the form of a black hole is very unlikely but possible. But admitting it would be a bye-bye to the LHC experiments and the Higgs boson, so they just keep it a Polichinelle's secret.

Yes indeed! But hardly in the same league as some earlier assurances given to the public.

Think of such classics as: nuclear reactors being perfectly safe; hydrocarbon emissions and the greenhouse effect actually being beneficial (i.e. forestalling another ice age); all the product safety claims being made about half the pharmaceutical products currently being sold; and slapping the buzzword 'green' on every product and service out there. (Don't laugh - I recently saw a published article that argues that strip mining is, in fact, 'a green technology'! Talk about little known facts! Who would have ever guessed?)

Not only would discussing risk shut a lot of things down, it would also make it a lot harder for all those wonderful corporations to make money. And then where would we be?

I'm not worried about CERN. I won't be afraid of the LHC until some corporation gets its hands on it.

[mahesh2k]

@40Hz

your concearn about commercial hands behind science reminds me of movie resident evil in which umbrela corp used to manipulate labs for their advantage...

and this is the reason i think "anti-matter" experiment shouldnt be performed..

[Deozaan]

So how come everyone here seems to know so much about LHCs? What do they do and how could a Black Hole result from turning one on?

[TPReal]

There's a lot of interesting things here: http://askanexpert.web.cern.ch/AskAnExpert/Welcome.html. It's really worth reading if you're interested in modern physics.

Each proton beam flying around the LHC will have an energy of 7 TeV, so when two protons collide the collision energy will be 14 TeV. Lead ions have many protons, and together they give an even greater energy: the lead-ion beams will have a collision energy of 1150 TeV. Both collision energies have never been reached before in a lab.
Energy concentration is what makes particle collisions so special. When you clap your hands you probably do a ‘collision’ at an energy higher than protons at the LHC, but much less concentrated! Now think of what you would do if you were to put a needle in one of your hands. You would certainly slow your hands down as you clapped!
In absolute terms, these energies, if compared to the energies we deal with everyday, are not impressive. In fact, 1 TeV is about the energy of motion of a flying mosquito. What makes the LHC so extraordinary is that it squeezes energy into a space about a million million times smaller than a mosquito.

Here's the sort of official info about black holes: http://askanexpert.web.cern.ch/AskAnExpert/en/Accelerators/LHCblackholes-en.html.

TPReal.

[mahesh2k]

@Deozaan:
There is no chance of Black-holes as of now...

You can take a look at these resources to know more about LHC

http://lhc.web.cern.ch/lhc/

http://science.howstuffworks.com/large-hadron-collider.htm/printable

Whats the use of LHC?
well one, to solve the aging theories of particle physics about Higgs
Boson, Dark Matter as well as Dark Energy, which together comprise for 96% of our Universe.
And two, to confirm where or not they exists. Scientists have been trying to trace these
illusive sub atomic particles for over 2 decades, without any success. With the Big Bang
experiment, scientists hope that they will be able to come to a conclusion finally.
All we can do is wait for the CERN to operate at full power within a year, before something
fruitful comes out it. May be sooner.. who knows?

[fenixproductions]

<OT>
It would be great idea for Japanese anime:
1. they create Dark Matter,
2. it is starting to extend by itself,
3. ...
4. demons, slaughter and don't forget big robots
</OT>

Well, as I've told you tomorrow: you're overreacting LHC thing.

[mwfuss]

Actually I thought it would have been kind of neat if the Earth had been destroyed in a proton sized black hole. It would have at least stopped global warming - and just think no more British summers!!! It would also solve the world terror issue and the US christian right in a flash (plus they would all be very happy with the outcome).

As an American and a conservative Christian I must take exception to the above comment that, at the very least, implies the equation of terrorism and conservative Christianity. If that is, indeed, what the author intended, then such is offensive, irresponsible, and patently untrue. If it was meant as a joke, then it is in very poor taste.

I realize fully well that I may be criticized to no end over this, but I just cannot sit by idly while someone ridicules the faith that I hold so dearly.

[Carol Haynes]

Sorry I thought all christians would like to go to heaven as soon as possible - and that was what I meant by the comment. You may view it as poor taste but I actually find a lot of religious belief and dogma in pretty poor taste - especially when it is imposed on the majority of society who don't share those beliefs.

However, it was a badly phrased sentence and I did not mean to equate world terrorism and christian fundamentalism. It was meant as black humour (presumably I will now be accused of racism).

Religious Rant - sorry I am in a bad mood, don&#039;t read it if you are sensitive

Having said that the history of christian fundamentalism over the last 2000 years isn't exactly spotless when it comes to tolerance of other belief systems or even rational thought (Galileo and Copernicus spring to mind, not to mention the crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and slaughter of Native Americans - and that is a just a small number of examples).

Actually fundamentalist christians and jews believe in the pentatuch - genesis being the basis of fundamentalist belief in creationist philosphy (and presumable intelligent design). I have never quite worked out how it is decided which bits of these five books are the word of god and which can be ignored. If it is all the word of god then it strikes me that most of the judeo-christian philosophy is built on systematic genocide - which is actually a step up the order of horror from terrorism.

[KenR]

Sorry I thought all christians would like to go to heaven as soon as possible - and that was what I meant by the comment. You may view it as poor taste but I actually find a lot of religious belief and dogma in pretty poor taste - especially when it is imposed on the majority of society who don't share those beliefs.

However, it was a badly phrased sentence and I did not mean to equate world terrorism and christian fundamentalism. It was meant as black humour (presumably I will now be accused of racism).

Wow, that brought me out of hiding!

Hey Carol, forgive my curiosity, but I was just wondering how often you have similarly bad moods? 

[Carol Haynes]

Sorry - it just annoys me when tolerance is all meant to be one way. I have frequently been criticised and threatened by fundamentalist christians. If people want to live a bronze age life style (which is what fundamentalist should do to follow the biblical rules correctly) that is fine with me I just object to it being pushed on the majority of society which seems to be a growing trend in the US and UK.

[Mark0]

The intro scene from Another World is pretty actual: YouTube
What a beautyful game, and it was about the 1990.

I have bough the new PC version in high-res the moment I discovered it!
http://www.anotherworld.fr/anotherworld_uk/index.htm

[Lashiec]

So far, the LHC is a good thing for everyone. It has brought Ken back, and the scientists working in it are too busy with catchy rap songs to create black holes

It has. You are now in a parallel alternate universe exactly like the one you were in before they fired up the LHC.

Not fair, that was going to be my answer

If the world ends, will we at least have a few minutes to think about how cool it is and watch it end? or will it happen in the blink of an eye and no one gets to appreciate it?

Nah, if it ends by means of the LHC you won't even have the time to check up the site. And then, how would you know if it ended? Now, wouldn't you be curious about what happens if the black hole sucks everything up? (according to Futurama, we'll play an endless round of Dungeons & Dragons :-D)

Think of such classics as: nuclear reactors being perfectly safe; hydrocarbon emissions and the greenhouse effect actually being beneficial (i.e. forestalling another ice age); all the product safety claims being made about half the pharmaceutical products currently being sold; and slapping the buzzword 'green' on every product and service out there.

Funny, I would consider just the first one as a classic, the other three is the first time I heard about them (yes, yes, that's including strip mining).

The intro scene from Another World is pretty actual: YouTube
What a beautyful game, and it was about the 1990.

That would be more like a temporal dimension vortex actually (ala Half-Life).