The Black Hole

Wästed The Great

Wästed The Great

Minister Of Chicks, Metal&Beer; Cool & Froody Dude
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24525554

This is an artilce about a particle collider that is set up in Europe.  Basically, it is trying to create a miniature version of the 'big bang', but the result 'could be' miniature black holes that pop into and then back out of existance.  The process is to start on Wed, (under France, if reading correctly), and take months to reach full power, which will be sending particles at each other at near the speed of light. 

So, if you are in Europe over the next several months, I hope you don't get sucked into something.
 
Great, just what we need. The creation of another universe. Oh well, at least this topic isn't about what I thought it was going to be about at first glance..... whew!  ;)
 
Maybe it's just me, but this is old news. Way old. Years old - as in, people have been freaking out over the possibily of miniature black holes coming out of this for years.

And any "threat" has been 100% debunked by scientists. No new universe will be created. The earth will not be destroyed. I've read a great deal on the subject, and there's nothing to fear. I'd provide links, but it's been a few weeks since I saw good articles about this, so just try googling it since I can't remember where the good links are.

Here's the bottom line:
Any miniature black holes produced will be incredibly tiny. Smaller than atoms by far. On the order of the Planck length where quantum physics takes over from classical physics.
And all black holes constantly lose mass via Hawking radiation. They only grow if there is other mass to absorb.
So a miniature black hole in a controlled environment will evaporate away to nothing before it even has a chance to absorb any mass.

In fact, the black holes will exist for such a short time - on the order of nanoseconds - that they can't be seen directly.
Scientists will be able to detect the residue which will show they were there, but only after they're gone.
 
That would sound right, after reading the article. 

I think the reason that this is now 'news' is that they are going to actually turn it on Wednesday.  I guess its a culmination of many years worth of work, finally coming to fruition.  I, however, hadn't heard anything about it-- sounded interesting.

I will look for other sources, tho!
 
I can see this topic and discussion becoming vastly entertaining over time. This kind of thing interests me greatly and I find quantum physics fascinating. My head will just not allow any further thought on the subject at this moment.
 
I'm super-excited by this.  Of course, all reasonable evaluation of the evidence shows that we're not about to destroy the fabric of the universe.  Which is good.  But some people are ridiculously fearful of anything like this.  Laymen don't want to learn to understand - they want to believe it's done by their invisible pal in the sky, and we ought not to cross into his domain.
 
Hopefully, my comments about being sucked in were taken tongue-in-cheek.

I also find this pretty interesting.  The kind of thing that you read about in a sci-fi novel that is now becoming a reality.

I am anxious to read some more info on this.  It was curious to me that there was a contingent from Hawi'i that was nervous about the gig... unless they have some sort of competition for it.  I would think that any scientist that is intelligent to be listened to about this would know enough to not worry.
 
Nice to see the scientific community is so bored they're wasting our time and money making tiny black holes...
 
CERN and Fermilab are "responsible" for a number of breakthroughs in particle physics and quantum mechanics. And yet no-one notices. Media is still full of bullshit celebrity stuff. And then, wooohoo, a "black hole". Ask any one of that journalists do they even know what's a black hole. No, try asking them what's a singularity. I'm ranting because i heard connections to that 21.12.2012 date regarding these experiments.

Yeah, go greenpeace, stop nuclear power!  :S

In any case, this should be really interesting. Somewhere in near future, lucky scientists will be able to monitor localized spacetime distortions. Afterwards, we could be having interaction tests with sub-particles.

@Onhell, in case you aren't joking, i think you're severely overlooking the advanages of this experiment.
 
Zare said:
@Onhell, in case you aren't joking, i think you're severely overlooking the advanages of this experiment.
Click to expand...

you mean like finding a cure for AIDS or cancer? :p

on a serious note, you're right, I do overlook any advantages this might have as I am tremendously ignorant in any physics beyond the 8th grade, and even that is not my forte.
 
Well, for me, it's less a question of money and more a question of making sure that we're giving all our scientists a fair blow.  These highly talented physicists are likely not going to be so good with biology, yes?
 
Yeah, their poor spouses.  Likely not much action....erm, you may have meant biological sciences.  :blush:

I do get what you mean.  And these people have probably spent the last dozen, or so, years working on this.  I hope it does provide some of the answers they are expecting.
 
I don't think they are expecting any particular answers.  Indeed, the report I read is that this is pure experimentation -- they don't know what they will discover.  (There is hope that they will find evidence of the Higgs bosun/God particle, but that is speculative.)  The real question is whether the value that may or may not come from this research is worth the ridiculous expense, much of which is, as I understand it, being borne by taxpayers.  This definitely has a "screw you, taxpayer" boondoggle feel to it.  At least our solar system didn't blink out of existence last night.  
 
I just saw a story on this in today's morning news. Something about releasing protons and having them collide to see what happens and the anchor said that scientist responded to fears of black holes being created as, "ludicris."
 
That's my understanding.  Apparantly, the energy released would be akin to two mosquitos colliding.  Not enough to create a black hole.  Stephen Hawking said the likeliness of a black hole appearing as a result of the collision is less that 1%.
 
Onhell said:
"ludicris."
Click to expand...

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, there was a forum member with a secondary identity. His celebrated exploits kept this forum from ungrammatical chaos on countless occasions, but in time the stress of leading a double life led him to declare his retirement.

Though he relieved himself of the weight of the secondary identity, the forum member was restless. He saw one misspelled word after another go by, each one driving him just a bit crazier, each one calling like a siren to the beast still hiding deep inside his gut...

And then our hero's arch-nemesis, Onhell - yes, the same Onhell who had first evoked the monster many years ago - posted a single word which shattered the fragile peace. "Ludicris". And SMX could hold his demons back no longer...

IT'S THE RETURN OF MR. DICKTIONARY!

Ludicrous means "broadly or extravagantly humorous; resembling farce".

Ludacris is a rapper and actor.

THERE IS NO LUDICRIS, NOT EVEN WHEN LUDACRIS IS BEING LUDICROUS.


The beast has been released. Spell check your posts, or you're next. :ninja:
 
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