Potential end of the world - June ‘08
April 15th, 2008 |
It is said that scientists involved in the Manhattan Project to engineer and implement the first nuclear bombs seriously considered the possibility that such a bomb could initiate a chain reaction that would destroy the Earth. Now it is being claimed that the production of miniature black holes by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Switzerland could do the same. The LHC is scheduled to go on line in June…CERN scientists claim that they have considered this possibility and that it is not going to happen.
I am glad that they at least considered the possibility.
However, just in case they are wrong, you might consider bumping up your summer plans.
4 Responses to “Potential end of the world - June ‘08”
The LHC will run in the TeV domain. The earth, and to a greater extent the moon, gets routinely bombarded with cosmic rays of much higher energy.
Somehow the black hole hasn’t eaten us yet, so don’t quit your day jobs.
Somehow the black hole hasn’t eaten us yet, so don’t quit your day jobs.
Is it at least a good enough excuse to start a new day job?
Depends. Does it come with more vacation time?
Of course this could have been predicted…
Two men have sought an injunction in a US court to prevent the European Large Hadron Collider (LHC) from operating, alleging its new atom-smashing experiments could endanger the Earth.
Walter Wagner, a botanist and Luis Sancho of Spain filed the lawsuit in a Hawaii court on March 21 asking for work on the collider’s particle acceleration to be halted while safety reviews take place.