Thread: The Large Hadron Collider

Originally Posted by Ockham

...a few people and scientists are saying that the CERN will create a black hole and that the earth will be destroyed... I haven't made that much physics but that sounds a little far too stretch.

There are actually a lot of smaller colilders in existence, one not horribly far from me in central california. most scientists say a black hole probably won't form, but even if it does I won't care the next day

Originally Posted by Nickelking

There are actually a lot of smaller colilders in existence, one not horribly far from me in central california. most scientists say a black hole probably won't form, but even if it does I won't care the next day

I lived near Fermilab for twenty years and I can honestly say that it didn't do me any harm except that, every now and then, I get this pain in my back...

I am a big fan of science for curiosity... or better: research for curiosity (I like to enlarge the vision to humanities for instance)... So I think that wanting to answer the questions a human mind can have (what make us what we really are is the fact that we can think and even ask question about our own thinking) is one of the better way to honor what we are - of course, when harm could be done, experimentation must be done with caution and ethic-.

I just wanted to add this to lighten my point:
The point (application of particle studies) was elegantly, if arrogantly, made by Bob Wilson (first Director of Fermilab, a large particle physics/accelerator laboratory near Chicago) who, when asked by a Congressional Committee "What will your lab contribute to the defence of the US?", replied "Nothing, but it will make it worth defending"

Originally Posted by Nickelking

as a geek I can't wait until 9/10 to see what we learn, but a lot of folks are saying we shouldn't meddle with this kind of stuff. Opinions?

Sorry, but apparently we won't be learning anything today. Today they're just testing the beams. The particle colliding will happen later. Then it's happy doomsday!