Soo...we're all going to die...apparently

[muy_thaiguy]

*looks at self*

I'm still here... are you?

Maybe. Though the nights seem to be getting longer.

[gdeangel]

They queued up the proton beams, but did not smash anything yet.

This may have been said already, but many people expect that black holes at an atomic or sub-atomic level will emerge. They predict that those black holes will cease to exist rapidly because of mathematics that they probably don't understand any more than the genius "quant" models that predict what the stock market is going to do.

One piece of evidence that we are safe is that cosmic rays contain energy levels apparently similar to what LHC will generate, and they are not creating black holes out in space that we observe regularly. I don't find that a very compelling argument. Hardly a scientific proof that it's safe. Just more like a guess.

But one thing there is virtual agreement on... if LHC's experiments do create sustained mini-black holes, it will take a while (like many years) before they start to produce any discernible effects / devour the Earth. Isn't that reassuring....

Let's see:

• Carbon emissions... oppps, sorry about being a little behind on that one.
• PCB's... well, we had no idea they were carcinogenic when we created it.
• Aesbestos... you've got to admit that in it's day it did what it was supposed to
• Atom bomb... guy looking at time lapse photo's of the bomb test had as much idea of the energy of the bomb as the people who built it.
• CFC's... <<Wow>> Hey guys, where did that hole in the Ozone layer suddenly come from??

Well, am I the only one, or is there a predictable pattern here.

[Ditocoaf]

*looks at self*

I'm still here... are you?

Maybe. Though the nights seem to be getting longer.

That is worrisome. I was just talking to skoffin, and HER nights seem to be getting shorter... what could this mean?

[oVo]

I read somewhere that the collider cost billions to make, while in my old neighborhood --it was rumored that-- you could get sucked into a black hole for twenty bucks. So maybe this extravagent machine was constructed in the wrong location to be cost effective.

[jonesthecurl]

Have they done it already? Anyone know anything new?

go back five quotes. There is nothing new.

[william18]

Even if a black hole is formed, it would deterearate from Hawking Radiation.

[Ditocoaf]

Even if a black hole is formed, it would deterearate from Hawking Radiation.

Exactly. "micro-black holes" are created all the time. They just don't have any significant duration. Nothing will occur in the LHC that doesn't occur naturally, they're just making sure it happens in front of a microscope.

[Ditocoaf]

Also:








Five minutes after I read this, I gave the last panel a little more thought, and felt my lungs tie themselves in a knot. One of the worst and best physics puns I've ever seen (you'll get it eventually if you know your particles).

[Neoteny]

I like my whiskey sours strangely.

[Ditocoaf]

The future of this thread is definitely looking up.

[Snorri1234]

I still dont get that shit about "particles".

I just like it for the sillyness.

[Ditocoaf]

I still dont get that shit about "particles".

Well, it's not exactly the top of humor.

I just like it for the sillyness.

I'm down with silliness too!

EDIT:

I just realized it's time for us to buckle down and return to this charming top.ic
Sorry for screwing up and causing this thread to bottom out. Isn't it strange how this always happens?

[t-o-m]

I read somewhere that the collider cost billions to make, while in my old neighborhood --it was rumored that-- you could get sucked into a black hole for twenty bucks. So maybe this extravagent machine was constructed in the wrong location to be cost effective.

It cost something like 5 billion.
idk

[jonesthecurl]

I still dont get that shit about "particles".

Well, it's not exactly the top of humor.

I just like it for the sillyness.

I'm down with silliness too!

EDIT:

I just realized it's time for us to buckle down and return to this charming top.ic
Sorry for screwing up and causing this thread to bottom out. Isn't it strange how this always happens?

Well, if your sense of humour falls apart ou could always put some gluon.

[Ditocoaf]

The total cost of the project is anticipated to be €3.2–6.4 billion.[1] The construction of LHC was approved in 1995 with a budget of 2.6 billion Swiss francs (€1.6 billion), with another 210 million francs (€140 million) towards the cost of the experiments. However, cost over-runs, estimated in a major review in 2001 at around 480 million francs (€300 million) for the accelerator, and 50 million francs (€30 million) for the experiments, along with a reduction in CERN's budget, pushed the completion date from 2005 to April 2007.[22] The superconducting magnets were responsible for 180 million francs (€120 million) of the cost increase. There were also engineering difficulties encountered while building the underground cavern for the Compact Muon Solenoid, in part due to faulty parts loaned to CERN by fellow laboratories Argonne National Laboratory and Fermilab.[23]

David King, the former Chief Scientific Officer for the United Kingdom, has criticised the LHC for taking a higher priority for funds than solving the Earth's major challenges; principally climate change, but also population growth and poverty in Africa.[24]

So it will probably cost upwards of $5 billion dollars. But I think it's worth it, as it is the top of human experience to discover the strange unknown. Plus, all you have to do to make anything sound downright reasonable is compare it to the cost of the Iraq War.

[jonesthecurl]

Or the amount spent on bottled water.

[Aries]

If there are a lot of rumors like that I'd hate to be living on the french swiss border lol

[Hologram]

Let's say we make like particles and collide?

[Skittles!]

If this were true [the rumours, I mean] then all the people who want to commit suicide get their wish.

[heavycola]

They predict that those black holes will cease to exist rapidly because of mathematics that they probably don't understand

mathematics that you don't understand, you mean. Jesus, this is like creationism's younger brother, destructionism.

[jonesthecurl]

They predict that those black holes will cease to exist rapidly because of mathematics that they probably don't understand

mathematics that you don't understand, you mean. Jesus, this is like creationism's younger brother, destructionism.

Blimey, yeah, I mean would you Adam and Eve it?

[Ditocoaf]

They predict that those black holes will cease to exist rapidly because of mathematics that they probably don't understand

mathematics that you don't understand, you mean. Jesus, this is like creationism's younger brother, destructionism.

I hadn't seen this gdeangel quote yet, heavycola... thanks for pointing it out to me.

gdeangel:
that was the funniest thing I've read all week. Man on the street: "I don't think those scientists should base their decisions on advanced physics, because they don't understand it." That's like some giant klutz saying, "I don't think that 'cellist should hold his 'cello like that, it's fragile."

[Godd]

Apparently.

How fun, apparently some french scientists (lol - a french scientist ) are going to split an atom.

Apparently:

This will either cause a black hole - which obviously we'll all be crushed and die.

Or, apparently:

There'll be a big nuclear explosion and we'll all get burned to death.

OR:

Two nightmare scenarios, two ends of the world. In the first, there is little warning. For maybe a month there would be no sign that life was about to come to an abrupt and nasty end for all living things on Earth.

Then, earthquakes would start unexpectedly, alerting geologists that something terrible, unimaginable, was amiss.

After a few days, these seismic disturbances would reach catastrophic proportions.

Cities would be levelled, the oceans would rise and wash in a series of mega-tsunamis that would attack the world's coasts, killing millions.

What'll it be children?


p.s oh and if theres already a topic about this, delete the other one because im more important

Its always great to see my handy work here on CC, In the foreground is the Hadron detector, It is made up of brass wedges with layers of scintillating tiles. Each tile has fiber optic cables coming from the inside each one. You may ask how do I know this- Let me tell you I ran the crew to build this part of the detector

[Timminz]

For any of you who are REALLY worried about this. Here is a webcam of the facility. If anything catastrophic happens, you'll know about it marginally sooner.

[john9blue]

For any of you who are REALLY worried about this. Here is a webcam of the facility. If anything catastrophic happens, you'll know about it marginally sooner.

Well, it's been nice knowing you all.