Logo

Hiro Queso · 03-29-2008, 09:46 AM

It seems these guys don't realise it's not yet April 1st!

FOXNews.com - Lawsuit: Huge Atom Smasher Could Destroy World - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News

Quote:

Stop the scientists before they destroy us all!

That's what a Hawaii man with a background in nuclear physics is asking a court to do. Walter F. Wagner and his colleague Luis Sancho have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop work on the Large Hadron Collider, a gigantic atom smasher on the Franco-Swiss border that's set to start operations in May.

Physicists hope its incredible energies will form briefly-lived new particles that could shed light on the origins of the universe, among other marvels. The plaintiffs' concerns? That the LHC could accidentally create strange new particles that would instantly transform any matter they touched, engulfing the Earth, or, even worse, make a rapidly expanding black hole that could consume the entire planet. "[T]he compression of the two atoms colliding together at nearly light speed will cause an irreversible implosion, forming a miniature version of a giant black hole," reads the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Honolulu.

"[A]ny matter coming into contact with it would fall into it and never be able to escape. Eventually, all of earth would fall into such growing micro-black-hole, converting earth into a medium-sized black hole, around which would continue to orbit the moon, satellites, the ISS, etc."

• Click here to read the text of the lawsuit.

Named as defendants are the U.S. Department of Energy, the venerable DOE-owned Fermilab particle-accelerator facility outside Chicago, the "Center for Nuclear Energy Research (CERN)" and the National Science Foundation. (CERN's full name is actually the European Organization for Nuclear Research; "CERN" is the French acronym for an earlier name.) The lawsuit wants the LHC's opening to be delayed for several months so that outside experts can read the facility's internal safety review, which was to have been completed by Jan. 1 of this year but does not appear to have been released. Wagner has even put up a Web site at http://www.lhcdefense.org/ detailing his concerns. Not included among the documents is Wagner's own indictment last month on identity-theft charges tied to an ongoing legal battle over a botanical garden on the Big Island of Hawaii, but you can read about that here.

Most physicists say Wagner's worries are unfounded. Micro black holes would evaporate nearly instantly instead of combining to form larger ones, they say, and the "strangelet" particles he frets would freeze the world would in fact fall apart quickly.

Wagner's own background is a bit fuzzy. He claims to have minored in physics at U.C. Berkeley, gone to law school, taught elementary-school science and worked in nuclear medicine at health facilities — but he doesn't appear to have an advanced degree in science. Sancho's qualifications are even murkier, but the lawsuit identifies him as a Spanish citizen residing in the U.S., even if his presence makes the entire case a bit, um, quixotic.

Fears that atom smashers will destroy the world have been around for decades and seem to come to the fore every time a new well-publicized facility comes online.
But no particle accelerator has ever come close to the power of the Large Hadron Collider

Hal 9000 · 03-29-2008, 09:51 AM

The operation continues as planned. Excelllent!

Malachi · 03-29-2008, 10:18 AM

From one of the "supporting" articles:

A terrorist would need only half of a gram of [CERN produced] antimatter to be equally destructive as the Hiroshima bomb.

ZOMG! If a terrorist could sneak that half gram from Europe to the US (maybe inside the sole of his shoe or in a shampoo bottle) he could level Manhattan... or sumptin!

Aodhan McDunnough · 03-29-2008, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malachi

From one of the "supporting" articles:

A terrorist would need only half of a gram of [CERN produced] antimatter to be equally destructive as the Hiroshima bomb.

ZOMG! If a terrorist could sneak that half gram from Europe to the US (maybe inside the sole of his shoe or in a shampoo bottle) he could level Manhattan... or sumptin!

LOL yeah. Good luck trying to carry that stuff around. Furthermore I don't think scientists have even accumulated half a gram in all the years of antimatter work, let alone collect it in one place. What was that figure? US$12B will be needed to produce 1 gram of antimatter?

Aimee Weber · 03-29-2008, 12:17 PM

If I recall, scientists have recently observed Hawkings Radiation, the existence of which ensures mini black holes will collapse and vanish instantly.

With the LHC going online next month, this guy needs to learn the first rule of Doomsday politics ... don't set the predicted dire consequences until tens or hundreds of years in the future.

Cindy Claveau · 03-29-2008, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aimee Weber

With the LHC going online next month, this guy needs to learn the first rule of Doomsday politics ... don't set the predicted dire consequences until tens or hundreds of years in the future.

That way people will have forgotten he was an idiot.

Of course, in the 16th century Nostradamus predicted the rise of the Anti-christ in 1999 and he's still oft-quoted as a "prophet".

Malachi · 03-29-2008, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cindy Claveau

Of course, in the 16th century Nostradamus predicted the rise of the Anti-christ in 1999 and he's still oft-quoted as a "prophet".

Oh, the LHC opponents have already beaten you to him:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michel de Nostredame

Leave, leave Geneva every last one of you,
Saturn will be converted from gold to iron,
Raypoz will exterminate all who oppose him,
Before the coming the sky will show signs.

Pretty obvious, if you ask me.

Dnate Mars · 03-29-2008, 04:32 PM

If it does end the world, I will welcome it. No one would have ever guessed we would off ourselves with a black hole.

Flood Mommsen · 03-29-2008, 05:13 PM

I thought that whole "CERN produces antimatter"-thing was something Dan Brown invented for one of his novels...?

And besides...where would the terrorist keep it? In a box?

Ben Hoark · 03-29-2008, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flood Mommsen

I thought that whole "CERN produces antimatter"-thing was something Dan Brown invented for one of his novels...?

And besides...where would the terrorist keep it? In a box?

Yep. In a quantum box, along with the cat.

Flood Mommsen · 03-29-2008, 05:43 PM

Stewardess: No, Mr. Schroedinger, we can not let you take that box as hand baggage. It goes in the cargo hold...right next to Mr. Russell's teapot!

Schroedinger: Aw, man...

mcgeeb Gupte · 03-29-2008, 09:59 PM

Sounds like a good storyline for a movie but I think there is a greater chance that we'll all die from a nuclear war first.

Malachi · 03-29-2008, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dnate Mars

If it does end the world, I will welcome it. No one would have ever guessed we would off ourselves with a black hole.

Someone did: http://www.amazon.com/Earth-David-Brin/dp/055329024X/
It's a pretty good novel, too.

03-29-2008, 10:18 AM	#3 (permalink)
Malachi the bathwater & the baby fish and bees are inherently sarcastic Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 3,664	From one of the "supporting" articles: A terrorist would need only half of a gram of [CERN produced] antimatter to be equally destructive as the Hiroshima bomb. ZOMG! If a terrorist could sneak that half gram from Europe to the US (maybe inside the sole of his shoe or in a shampoo bottle) he could level Manhattan... or sumptin!

03-29-2008, 04:32 PM	#8 (permalink)
Dnate Mars Tastes like purple Illyngophiliac Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Home Posts: 10,885 My Mood: Wordtris Champion! SL Join Date: 01/27/2004 Business: Scripter for hire XBOX Leaderboard: 37^th	If it does end the world, I will welcome it. No one would have ever guessed we would off ourselves with a black hole. __________________ SLU Clubhouse - Open 24/7 Visit at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tan/138/25/25

03-29-2008, 09:59 PM	#12 (permalink)
mcgeeb Gupte PG Safe Hair Building a tower Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 813 My Mood: SLShopper Ads: 63 Blog Entries: 2	Sounds like a good storyline for a movie but I think there is a greater chance that we'll all die from a nuclear war first. __________________ Jolie Femme Main Slurl Jolie Femme on Xstreet Jolie Femme Blog

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

03-29-2008, 09:51 AM	#2 (permalink)
Hal 9000 Heuristically programmed Is Lurking Inside Your Wii Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 489 My Mood:	The operation continues as planned. Excelllent!

03-29-2008, 12:17 PM	#5 (permalink)
Aimee Weber Queen of the Metaverse Edit Status Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 6,265 My Mood:	If I recall, scientists have recently observed Hawkings Radiation, the existence of which ensures mini black holes will collapse and vanish instantly. With the LHC going online next month, this guy needs to learn the first rule of Doomsday politics ... don't set the predicted dire consequences until tens or hundreds of years in the future.

03-29-2008, 05:13 PM	#9 (permalink)
Flood Mommsen Senior Member On my 6th Mojito Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Hannover, Germany Posts: 142 My Mood: SL Join Date: 01/16/2006	I thought that whole "CERN produces antimatter"-thing was something Dan Brown invented for one of his novels...? And besides...where would the terrorist keep it? In a box?

03-29-2008, 05:43 PM	#11 (permalink)
Flood Mommsen Senior Member On my 6th Mojito Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Hannover, Germany Posts: 142 My Mood: SL Join Date: 01/16/2006	Stewardess: No, Mr. Schroedinger, we can not let you take that box as hand baggage. It goes in the cargo hold...right next to Mr. Russell's teapot! Schroedinger: Aw, man...

Logo

Site Navigation