# Particle collider may destroy the world after all ... link **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 27, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240 "2009-01-27T16:30:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Altair33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Altair33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Altair33)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/1 "2009-01-27T16:30:48Z")
hey, science has its price. > **[Fox News - Breaking News Updates | Latest News Headlines | Photos & News...](https://www.foxnews.com/)** > > Breaking News, Latest News and Current News from FOXNews.com. Breaking news and video. Latest Current News: U.S., World, Entertainment, Health, Business, Technology, Politics, Sports. Still worried that the Large Hadron Collider will create a black hole that will destroy the Earth when it’s finally switched on this summer? Um, well, you may have a point. Three physicists have reexamined the math surrounding the creation of microscopic black holes in the Switzerland-based LHC, the world’s largest particle collider, and determined that they won’t simply evaporate in a millisecond as had previously been predicted. Rather, Roberto Casadio of the University of Bologna in Italy and Sergio Fabi and Benjamin Harms of the University of Alabama say mini black holes could exist for much longer — perhaps even more than a second, a relative eternity in particle colliders, where most objects decay much faster. Under such long-lived conditions, it becomes a race between how fast a black hole can decay — and how fast it can gobble up matter to grow bigger and prevent itself from decaying. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/2 "2009-01-27T16:32:34Z")
Will it, won’t it, the news outlets seem to work on their own uncertainty principle. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/3 "2009-01-27T16:42:10Z")
> [@Altair33](#): > > hey, science has its price. > > [Fox News - Breaking News Updates | Latest News Headlines | Photos & News Videos](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,483477,00.html) > Under such long-lived conditions, it becomes a race between how fast a black hole can decay — and how fast it can gobble up matter to grow bigger and prevent itself from decaying. Interesting, but my WAG is a second is still WAY too short for the thing to grow to the point evaporation will be outpaced by gobbling up stuff. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/4 "2009-01-27T16:43:25Z")
Wouldn’t it suck if the Earth got destroyed merely because of a rounding error? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Altair33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Altair33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Altair33)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/5 "2009-01-27T16:46:45Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Wouldn’t it suck if the Earth got destroyed merely because of a rounding error? 😉 I’m glad we don’t live directly on the other side of Europe. If the black hole does fall through the earth I expect it will be gobbling up the Pacfic Ocean as it exits the other side. Might even help the US by eating up a lot of Pacific Ocean and creating valuable new beachfront property on the West Coast. Thanks European scientists! ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/6 "2009-01-27T17:19:53Z")
Interesting…I wonder what the effect would be if it does. Would it be enough to swallow the planet, or just take out the detector assembly? And what size would the event horizon be? I should probably read the paper…FOX says that [it’s only 8 pages](http://arxiv.org/abs/0901.2948). [HIJACK] I know Fox News is maligned by many, but haven’t read anything there before… This is a news article from a professional news organization, or a teens attempt at mimicing the Onion? > [@](#): > > [FoxNews.com](http://FoxNews.com) can think of a few other things that didn’t seem possible once — the theory of continental drift, the fact that rocks fall from the sky, the notion that the Earth revolves around the sun, the idea that scientists could be horribly wrong. > > We’re also wondering how often the LHC might create individual black holes, since longer-lived ones have a greater chance of merging with each other, and, um, well, see ya. > > If the worst comes to pass, and there’s now a slightly greater chance that it might, at least it might explain why we’ve never heard from extraterrestrial civilizations: Maybe they built Large Hadron Colliders of their own. And does it take 45+ seconds for their pages to load for everyone? /[HIJACK] ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/7 "2009-01-27T17:46:54Z")
> [@cantara](#): > > And does it take 45+ seconds for their pages to load for everyone? It’s that whole time dilation thing. Nothing to be done about it right now but it should even out as the event horizon expands. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/8 "2009-01-27T18:09:53Z")
Enough of this speculative crap. Let’s just fire this sucker up and see if the Earth gets destroyed or not! ---
**Author:** ![Altair33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Altair33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Altair33)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/9 "2009-01-27T18:13:08Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Enough of this speculative crap. Let’s just fire this sucker up and see if the Earth gets destroyed or not! LOL! Glad I wasn’t drinking coffee when I read this … ---
**Author:** ![EpicNonsense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@EpicNonsense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EpicNonsense)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/10 "2009-01-27T18:13:58Z")
> [@Altair33](#): > > I’m glad we don’t live directly on the other side of Europe. If the black hole does fall through the earth I expect it will be gobbling up the Pacfic Ocean as it exits the other side. Might even help the US by eating up a lot of Pacific Ocean and creating valuable new beachfront property on the West Coast. Thanks European scientists! That doesn’t comfort us living in Hawaii… ---
**Author:** ![EpicNonsense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@EpicNonsense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EpicNonsense)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/11 "2009-01-27T18:18:38Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Enough of this speculative crap. Let’s just fire this sucker up and see if the Earth gets destroyed or not! Seriously, what are they worried about? It’d be the best thing ever for 90% of the world… wink wink… wink wink… I could really care less as long as I am around when it does happen. Imagine how bad things will get come mid-year 2012… This is nothing… People will be batshit crazy during those times. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/12 "2009-01-27T18:25:56Z")
So… I assume that Fox News is completely ignoring the fact that 14 TeV is small-fry compared to some of the cosmic rays that have been detected? ---
**Author:** ![Altair33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Altair33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Altair33)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/13 "2009-01-27T18:37:38Z")
> [@EpicNonsense](#): > > That doesn’t comfort us living in Hawaii… Hey, sometimes you gotta take one for the team! ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/14 "2009-01-27T18:54:43Z")
Oh no, not again… ☹ Anyway, the math has been gone over, examined and re-examined, and even if the black holes that could be produced at the energy levels the LHC operates at didn’t decay _at all_, they’d become a danger no earlier than in a couple of thousand years, and that’s using the very, very worst case assumptions about the exact geometry of space-time. The thing is, whatever will be created there would be much smaller than even a proton, and it’s not even sure if it could ever actually swallow so much as an elementary particle. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/15 "2009-01-27T19:03:20Z")
The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/16 "2009-01-27T19:30:14Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Enough of this speculative crap. Let’s just fire this sucker up and see if the Earth gets destroyed or not! Yeah! Enough of your borax, Poindexter – we need action! ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/17 "2009-01-27T19:38:56Z")
> [@EpicNonsense](#): > > That doesn’t comfort us living in Hawaii… Now, now. Sacrifices must be made to advance the realm of human knowledge. And we’re going big time, here! No more volcano sacrifices, we’re dumping entire states into black holes! That should appease the Gods for a while. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/18 "2009-01-27T19:53:34Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Now, now. Sacrifices must be made to advance the realm of human knowledge. And we’re going big time, here! No more volcano sacrifices, we’re dumping entire states into black holes! > > That should appease the Gods for a while. Only works if there are any virgins in hawai…and from what I’ve learned from TV and movies…I doubt that there are 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/19 "2009-01-27T19:58:05Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Anyway, the math has been gone over, examined and re-examined, and even if the black holes that could be produced at the energy levels the LHC operates at didn’t decay _at all_, they’d become a danger no earlier than in a couple of thousand years, and that’s using the very, very worst case assumptions about the exact geometry of space-time. Then there’s the little matter (Ha! I kill me) of the billions of years of cosmic ray bombardment the Earth has endured which exceeds in both quantity and intensity anything produced by the LHC by a factor of billions without ever once having produced an Earth-swallowing black hole. No, I’m not the least bit worried. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particle-collider-may-destroy-the-world-after-all-link/483240/20 "2009-01-27T23:22:02Z")
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