Large Hadron Collider and the Potential for Cataclysm

[The Vault Dweller]

In less than two months an unprecedented facility will come into use which promises to unveil untold amounts of information about the physical properties of our universe. As always though some people think this could have unforeseen consequences.

The facility:

http://www.uslhc.us/What_is_the_LHC

An international team is currently installing the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in a 27-kilometer ring buried deep below the countryside on the outskirts of Geneva, Switzerland. When its operations begin in 2008, the LHC will be the world’s most powerful particle accelerator. Scientists predict that its very-high-energy proton collisions will yield extraordinary discoveries about the nature of the physical universe. Beyond revealing a new world of unknown particles, the LHC experiments could explain why those particles exist and behave as they do. The LHC experiments could reveal the origins of mass, shed light on dark matter, uncover hidden symmetries of the universe, and possibly find extra dimensions of space.

The controversy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider

Concerns have been raised that performing collisions at previously unexplored energies might unleash new and disastrous phenomena. These include the production of micro black holes, and strangelets, potentially resulting in a doomsday scenario. Such issues were raised in connection with the RHIC accelerator, both in the media[16][17] and in the scientific community;[18] however, after detailed studies, scientists reached such conclusions as "beyond reasonable doubt, heavy-ion experiments at RHIC will not endanger our planet"[19] and that there is "powerful empirical evidence against the possibility of dangerous strangelet production."[20]

One argument against such fears is that collisions at these energies (and higher) have been happening in nature for billions of years apparently without hazardous effects, as ultra-high-energy cosmic rays impact Earth's atmosphere and other bodies in the universe.[21] A concern against this cosmic-ray argument is that, if dangerous strangelets or micro black holes were created at LHC, a proportion would have less than the Earth's escape velocity (of 11.2 km/s), and therefore would be captured by the Earth's gravitational field, whereas those created by high-energy cosmic rays would leave the planet at high speed, due to the laws of conservation of momentum at relativistic speeds

The countdown:

http://www.lhcountdown.com/

So...are we gonna see a portal to Hell created like in Doom 3 or possibly one to another dimension like in Half-life? I'd keep your crowbar and flashlight handy. Oh and some duct tape.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller

 

[Neamos]

OH GOD! Particles! Atoms! Black holes! Science! We are all going to die!

I say the universe is LORDS business, and we shouldn't tamper with it. It says so in the HOLY BIBLE.

 

[maximaz]

Could be an awesome disaster movie.

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

Could be an awesome disaster movie.

Nah by the rate the doomsayers say it will happen we will be long gone, our atoms stretched to spaghetti lengths or our mass converted into an ever expanded cloud of strangelets.

 

[Ah-Teen]

The US has two such devices(I think). The US is perfect so it must be safe.

 

[Loxley]

The US has two such devices(I think). The US is perfect so it must be safe.

Aha but this one is BIGGER. So the US will probably nuke it to ensure American supremacy in the particle accelerator race. This again will trigger the apocalypse.
*goes to dig a fallout shelter in the yard.*

 

[Ah-Teen]

We wont nuke it silly! We'll get our best spy to blow it up!

JAMES BOND GO!!!

 

[Mord_Sith]

James Bond is a Brit dude...

 

[Ah-Teen]

Thats what they want you to think

 

[Dracon M'Alkir]

As always though some people think this could have unforeseen consequences.

".. I'm ready."

 

[Zaij]

Gordon Freeman had his tongue cut out, that's why he can't speak.

And meh, people see the universe blowing up in everything, this is nothing new.

 

[Madbringer]

And meh, people see the universe blowing up in everything, this is nothing new.

Yeah, but this time, it might actually happen. Just thinking about the possibility of small black holes hovering here and there because scientists fucked something up gives me a boner.

I'm so excited i had to stand up.

Anyway (god damn, typing while standing is uncomfortable), who cares about the consequences. Consequences shmonsequences pfft. When you're about to do something immensely and utterly AWESOME, like those guys, you can't be bothered by consequences. I don't care if the earth blows up, i wanna see a portal to hell or something.

 

[Ah-Teen]

And meh, people see the universe blowing up in everything, this is nothing new.

Yeah, but this time, it might actually happen. Just thinking about the possibility of small black holes hovering here and there because scientists fucked something up gives me a boner.

You are a freak.

 

[Wooz]

Yeah, but this time, it might actually happen.

One argument against such fears is that collisions at these energies (and higher) have been happening in nature for billions of years apparently without hazardous effects, as ultra-high-energy cosmic rays impact Earth's atmosphere and other bodies in the universe.

 

[syllogz]

Well, since the Mayan calendar only ends in 2012.12.21. (thus the whole universe, too), we still have time till the LHC obliterates everything. Or to put it another way, it cannot do it before that.

Cheer up, dudes!

 

[GreyViper]

'Abort, Retry, Fail?' was the phrase some wormdog scrawled next to the door of the Edit Universe project room. And when the new dataspinners started working, fabricating their worlds on the huge organic comp systems, we'd remind them: if you see this message, always choose 'Retry.'

* Bad'l Ron, Wakener, Morgan Polysoft

I couldn't resist putting it here, it felt appropriate.

 

[welsh]

Blame it on the Swiss to create a black hole on earth.

(maybe this is revenge for being called pacifist pussies for so long?)

 

[The Vault Dweller]

URGENT UPDATE!

Bad news...and good news.

Bad news:

http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMo...080908?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=10284

When the experiment begins soon after 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) on September 10, disaster scenarists will have little to work on.

For those of you who don't like to read:

That's tomorrow. I'd say that leaves us with half a day left before the end of the world. However...

Good news:

Looks like in the end everything will work out fine. Just in case you end up in the resistance forces I'd encourage you to hide some weapons under the floor boards.

This is of course under the assumption that the Large Hadron Collider creates a resonance cascade such as in HL and not a portal to Hell as in Doom. I assume a resonance cascade is plausible since Hell is a "spiritual" place and I think could only be reached via "spiritual" means. Which is physical "flesh-and-blood" beings can't move too or from there.

Of course that's my professional opinion as a psuedo-intellectual. Others may believe in different theories.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller

 

[FeelTheRads]

Well, I say bring it on.

All these naysayers are just a bunch of lame ass fagots trying to get some attention to their otherwise pathetic lives.

The news programs here are roaring with absurdities about the subject and telling us about really important people who are against this project: some moron philosophy student from Germany and the Conservative Party. Well, no fucking shit, pardner!

 

[I_eat_supermutants]

Well all in all, odds are. Absolutely nothing will happen. How many of these things are on the planet already? This one just happends to be big is all.