4 ms·

CERN is the Doomsday Machine

5 points by dangoldin 18y ago

dangoldin 18y ago
I'm sure this is an exaggeration but I do not know enough to dispute it. Anyone have any knowledge about this?
- utnick 18y ago
  I think there are very few people in the world that know enough to dispute it.
maximilian 18y ago
If black holes usually get created by collapsing massive stars (much bigger than the sun), then how could CERN possibly create a black hole? I don't know too much about the particle physics of black holes, but it doesn't seem to make that much sense. Black holes basically happen because the gravity of the thing overcomes all other forces because its so incredibly massive in such a small space (overcomes the forces keeping atom's nuclei apart too). Smashing together a few protons together might make those proton nuclei to crash together, but I don't see how that could possibly make a black hole. To me, any crazy thing like a black hole that could destroy the earth, is far too energetic and ridiculous for humans to actually make unknowingly. (for now I guess) I'm sure the smart dudes at CERN thought about this and aren't worried.
swivelmaster 18y ago
"the exception that proves the rule" - a quote that can pretty strongly demonstrate idiocy of an argument.
Rickasaurus 18y ago
This article is laughable. First of all, all of this controversy has to do with the Large Hadron Collider (Black Holes) and the Low Energy Antiproton Ring (antimatter). Much else goes on at CERN. Secondly, they are going to be making extremely tiny amounts of antimatter (just enough to study it's effects). Not enough to blow up anything significant. Antimatter is really, really hard to keep around and control. See: http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/en/Research/Antimatter-en.html http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/en/Research/Antimatter-en.h... Third, the "mini black holes" they are making are nothing like what a layman would consider a black hole. They will be only the mass of a few thousand protons and if our current understanding of particle physics is even close to correct they will evaporate almost instantaneously. The funniest part of this whole thing is extremely high energy cosmic rays have been making much higher energy collisions on earth for it's entire existence. This is all about laymen getting up in arms about things they don't understand. The scientists shouldn't have called them black holes in the first place as it incites ignorant people to speak out when they know very little. With all the science fiction surrounding black holes anyone could have predicted this kind of outrage. See: http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/en/LHC/Safety-en.html http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/en/LHC/Safety-en.html
peterpoe 18y ago
It's shocking to know that such: http://www.dur.ac.uk/astronomical.society/includes/archive/nov2006/sky_falling.jpg http://www.dur.ac.uk/astronomical.society/includes/archive/n... an attitude towards science is so widespread. The video featuring the earth collapsing is fun. But science is even more fun. Don't stop the geek. Let 'em rock the universe.

5 points by dangoldin 18y ago

dangoldin 18y ago

I'm sure this is an exaggeration but I do not know enough to dispute it. Anyone have any knowledge about this?

utnick 18y ago
I think there are very few people in the world that know enough to dispute it.

maximilian 18y ago

If black holes usually get created by collapsing massive stars (much bigger than the sun), then how could CERN possibly create a black hole? I don't know too much about the particle physics of black holes, but it doesn't seem to make that much sense. Black holes basically happen because the gravity of the thing overcomes all other forces because its so incredibly massive in such a small space (overcomes the forces keeping atom's nuclei apart too). Smashing together a few protons together might make those proton nuclei to crash together, but I don't see how that could possibly make a black hole. To me, any crazy thing like a black hole that could destroy the earth, is far too energetic and ridiculous for humans to actually make unknowingly. (for now I guess) I'm sure the smart dudes at CERN thought about this and aren't worried.

swivelmaster 18y ago

"the exception that proves the rule" - a quote that can pretty strongly demonstrate idiocy of an argument.

Rickasaurus 18y ago

This article is laughable. First of all, all of this controversy has to do with the Large Hadron Collider (Black Holes) and the Low Energy Antiproton Ring (antimatter). Much else goes on at CERN. Secondly, they are going to be making extremely tiny amounts of antimatter (just enough to study it's effects). Not enough to blow up anything significant. Antimatter is really, really hard to keep around and control. See: http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/en/Research/Antimatter-en.html http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/en/Research/Antimatter-en.h... Third, the "mini black holes" they are making are nothing like what a layman would consider a black hole. They will be only the mass of a few thousand protons and if our current understanding of particle physics is even close to correct they will evaporate almost instantaneously. The funniest part of this whole thing is extremely high energy cosmic rays have been making much higher energy collisions on earth for it's entire existence. This is all about laymen getting up in arms about things they don't understand. The scientists shouldn't have called them black holes in the first place as it incites ignorant people to speak out when they know very little. With all the science fiction surrounding black holes anyone could have predicted this kind of outrage. See: http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/en/LHC/Safety-en.html http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/en/LHC/Safety-en.html

peterpoe 18y ago

It's shocking to know that such: http://www.dur.ac.uk/astronomical.society/includes/archive/nov2006/sky_falling.jpg http://www.dur.ac.uk/astronomical.society/includes/archive/n... an attitude towards science is so widespread. The video featuring the earth collapsing is fun. But science is even more fun. Don't stop the geek. Let 'em rock the universe.